Niamey

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Niamey (Template:IPA) is the capital and largest city of Niger. It is in the western part of the country, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the river's left bank (east side). The capital of Niger since the colonial era, Niamey is an ethnically diverse city and the country's main economic centre.

Before the French developed it as a colonial centre, Niamey was the site of villages inhabited by Fula, Zarma, Maouri, and Songhai people. French expeditions first visited the location in the 1890s before Captain Template:Ill established a military post in 1901. Niamey replaced Zinder as the territorial capital from 1903 to 1911 and again in 1926, after which large-scale development occurred. The first city plan in 1930 relocated neighbourhoods and enacted segregation of European and indigenous neighbourhoods, which remained separate until the 1950s. Niamey held Niger's first municipal elections in 1956, electing Djibo Bakary as the first mayor. In the decade following independence in 1960, urban planning introduced infrastructure such as the Kennedy Bridge, which connected the city to the right bank. In the 1970s and 1980s, Niamey's growth was fuelled by a boom in the national uranium industry and by droughts that brought rural migrants. Protests in Niamey contributed to the democratisation of Niger in the 1990s. This era saw an Islamic revival.

Niamey has a dense city centre and includes some villages in the periphery. Due to rapid population growth, the city has many informal settlements, allocated semi-legally from chiefs of traditional governments, which are often excluded from public utilities. The city's economy is dominated by commerce, largely in the informal economy. The city also has extensive urban agriculture. Alongside the Zarma people, Niamey has a large Hausa population, who often seasonally migrate from rural Niger. Both groups' languages are used as lingua francas. Most of the population follows Islam—including the Tariqa movement of Sufism and the newer Izala movement of Salafism—with a Christian minority. Niamey is one of the hottest major cities in the world. It is prone to droughts and floods. The Niger River is the city's only permanent river and the sole source of its municipal water supply.

Niamey comprises the Niamey Urban Community (Template:Langx, CUN), a first-level division of Niger, led by the Governor of Niamey. It is divided into five communes: Niamey I, II, III, and IV on the left bank, and V on the right bank. The city also has a municipal government, though it was dissolved in 2024. Transportation links include Diori Hamani International Airport, highways including RN1, and the unused Niamey railway station. Niamey is home to Abdou Moumouni University, Niger's most important university, and Niamey National Hospital, the country's largest referral hospital.

History

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Background and foundation

The area of modern Niamey was of little importance before Niger's colonial era. As the Sahelian kingdoms fought for control over the Sahel, the Niamey area was a buffer zone that was not urbanised.Template:Sfnm Late-sixteenth-century residents of this area included the Zarma and other Songhai refugees from the Moroccan invasion of the Songhai Empire, Hausa-speaking Maouri hunters who migrated westward from the Dogondoutchi area, and the regionally dominant Fula people. These ethnic groups comprise the population of modern Niamey.Template:Sfn

The villages of Template:Ill and Template:Ill were founded on the left bank (east side) of the Niger River in the sixteenth century. The site that would become Niamey was situated between these villages, around the gully of Template:Ill. Various other villages sprouted here around the early nineteenth century; the Hausa village of Template:Ill, the Zarma village of Template:Ill, and the Songhai village of Template:Ill were on the left bank, while the Fula villages of Template:Ill, Template:Ill, and Template:Ill were on the right bank.Template:Sfn

Oral histories differ on the chronology of Niamey's early settlement and the etymology of its name. The Maouri believe that the city's Maouri founders were driven away from the nearby river island of Template:Ill by the Fula villagers of Bitinkodji; they say the city was built next to a landmark tree called Template:LangTemplate:NoteTag and was thus named "place of the Gna", or Template:Lang. The Zarma believe that the founder, a Kallé Zarma chief from the Zarmaganda region named Kouri Mali, acquired land between Template:Ill and Template:Ill; they say the city's name is derived from his exclamation of "Template:Lang", meaning "clear out here" or "settle here". The Songhai believe that the founders were two fishermen from Gao, who were gifted the river island of Yama Gungu by the local Fula herders before settling on the left bank.Template:Sfn<ref name="Everett-Heath">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Colonial era

French invasion and military rule

1903 French map showing Niamey and nearby settlements

By the time of the Scramble for Africa, when France laid claim to Niger, western Niger had been weakened by local conflicts and had no major political powers.Template:Sfnm This facilitated the French invasion of Niger, which began in 1891. The first European mentions of Niamey were by the 1897 mission of Template:Ill,Template:Sfn then the 1899 Voulet–Chanoine Mission, which set fire to Niamey.Template:Sfnm A local account mentioned earlier contact with Europeans, identified as the expedition of Template:Ill.Template:Sfn

The first French post in Niamey was established in 1901 by Template:Ill, a captain overseeing the Niger–Chad road.Template:Sfn The administration chose the location—above a river bend—to provide a port between Zinder and Timbuktu and to facilitate securing control over the inland part of the territory.Template:Sfnm Salaman was the first to refer to the whole cluster of villages as Niamey.Template:Sfnm Niamey's residents viewed him as a bringer of peace and development, and the city became known in Hausa as "Template:Lang", meaning "Captain Salaman's city". French settlement of Niamey began on an empty plateau on the left bank (the modern-day quartier of Template:Ill). Salaman's administration led construction in this area and drew in migrants through incentives, which included suspending taxation and forced labour for residents.Template:Sfn

Niamey replaced Zinder as the capital of Niger in 1903, after a Tuareg revolt had weakened the eastern part of the territory.Template:Sfnm The French government incorporated several former chiefdoms into the Canton of Niamey. The first chief, a commoner named Bagniou, was unpopular as he had been a guide for the Voulet–Chanoine Mission, and the chiefdom of Karma protested losing autonomy to the new canton; it was replaced by the Canton of Karma in 1908.Template:Sfnm Niamey had about 1,800 inhabitants in 1904, when it became the capital of the Third Military Territory of Niger.Template:Sfn The first city limits were then drawn.Template:Sfn Niamey was not yet a focus of development as the capital's location was intended to be temporary, and officials debated whether the capital should be Niamey or Zinder.Template:Sfn The capital moved back to Zinder in 1911, after violence in the eastern region had subsidedTemplate:Sfn and reorganisation had drawn Niamey further away from the center of the territory.Template:Sfn From that year, Niamey's population began to decline from a peak of 3,000.Template:Sfn

Colony of Niger

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Niamey in December 1930. The large house in the centre is the French governor's residence. Air photo taken by Swiss pilot and photographer Walter Mittelholzer.

The Colony of Niger was founded in 1922.Template:Sfn Zinder's proximity to the Nigerian border and its distance from French-controlled ports prompted the French to move the capital back to Niamey. Although Niamey was isolated from most of the colony, it was near French Dahomey. The official reason for the move was that Zinder had insufficient potable water. Other reasons included the resistance of Zinder's unified Hausa population to French rule, Niamey's more comfortable climate, and its river location, which officials believed was the only place suitable for agriculture.Template:Sfnm The governor of Niger, Jules Brévié, made Niamey the capital on 28 December 1926,Template:Sfnm by which time the city had 3,142 inhabitants.Template:Sfn Construction of the new capital—including the governor's palace—began the year prior, mostly using forced labour.Template:Sfnm

In the decades following Niamey's establishment as the capital, the government developed agriculture and trade routes in western Niger, largely ignoring the rest of the territory.Template:Sfn The government planned to extend Dahomey's rail network to link Parakou to Niamey, but this project was not completed.Template:Sfn As capital, Niamey also became the center for the educated class of mostly Songhai and Zarma people, with the first regional school opening in 1930.Template:Sfn Niamey's first city plan in 1930 designated an indigenous quarter near the river and a European quarter further inland, separated by a park used as a Template:Lang (isolation zone).Template:Sfn Government construction, including the completion of the governor's palace, took place in late 1930 and early 1931 using forced labour.Template:Sfn

Before the 1930s, most migrants to Niamey were from western Niger.Template:Sfn Low rainfall in 1930 caused a famine that brought internally displaced people to Niamey starting in May 1931.Template:Sfnm These migrants increased the city's population tenfold, but most left after the famine ended. Those who remained established informal settlements with mostly thatched mud buildings on the edge of the indigenous quarter. The growth led colonial administrators to increase policing of hygiene.Template:Sfn Urban planning in the 1930s introduced health initiatives that involved the relocation of existing neighbourhoods, except for Gaweye, to the plateau. Most residents wished to stay on the river bank, but, after a 1935 fire destroyed many straw buildings, they were forcibly moved to mudbrick houses, resulting in multiethnic neighbourhoods. An urban plan implemented in 1937 divided Niamey into the European city, the indigenous city, and a commercial and industrial zone by the river.Template:Sfn

Most of the urban plan was cancelled during the Second World War, when colonial officials left for the war and the administration prioritised commercial farming over infrastructure.Template:Sfnm As the city's population increased—from 5,000 in 1941 to 7,500 in 1945—the remaining colonial administrators were unable to enforce property ownership laws, resulting in many people acquiring land from indigenous chiefs.Template:Sfn In the 1940s, the administration used taxation and forced labour to disincentivise immigration to the city. This labour was used for public works such as a central hospital and maternity ward. Forced labour was permitted under the Template:Lang until its abolishment in 1946, after which rural immigration increased.Template:Sfn The same year, Niger gained autonomy as an overseas territory, leading to the formation of political parties in Niamey. The French government reorganised Niamey in response to political unrest, and Gamkalé and Yantala were incorporated into the city.Template:Sfn

A new urban plan in 1952, the Template:Lang (Template:Lit), divided the city into several zones. The indigenous side included dense city blocks, while the European side was more open and green. This plan also formalised a marketplace of land plots, replacing traditional ownership.Template:Sfn Niamey was the first settlement in Niger to become an urban centre, doubling in size between 1945 and 1955 to about 15,000 people.Template:Sfnm The Template:Lang became outdated amid rapid urban growth and a wave of migrants from a 1954 famine.Template:Sfn The city grew inward into the Template:Lang, eliminating the distinction between the European and indigenous cities by 1955.Template:Sfn

Niamey was named as a Template:Lang, with a partially elected council, on 14 February 1954. It was upgraded to Niger's only Template:Lang on 18 December 1955, leading to municipal elections on 18 November 1956, the first in the country.Template:Sfnm The newly formed Template:Lang coalition (later renamed Sawaba) won a majority in these elections. Djibo Bakary—the leader of a popular trade union in Niamey—thus became the first mayor. Boubou Hama was his deputy mayor.Template:Sfnm As mayor, Bakary campaigned in support of immediate independence in the 1958 referendumTemplate:Sfn and unsuccessfully ran for Niamey's seat in the 1958 Nigerien Territorial Assembly election.Template:Sfn

Post-independence era

Independence, economic growth, and population boom

Black-and-white photo of small mudbrick houses and thatched huts next to a river.
Niamey riverfront in 1961

By 1960, the year of Niger's independence, Niamey's population had grown to 33,816.Template:Sfn A new city plan was drafted in 1961 by the French firm Template:Ill, which zoned the former indigenous quarter for a higher density than the former European quarter.Template:Sfn Niamey received the country's only asphalt highway, spanning a few kilometres between Diori Hamani International Airport and the Presidential Palace—the former governor's palace.Template:Sfn The French military base in the city was transferred to the Niger Armed Forces in 1961, becoming the Template:Lang (Template:Lang; Template:Translation),Template:Sfn but Niamey's gendarmerie unit remained under French control.Template:Sfn The Template:Lang led a rebellion against the French units in the city on 3 December 1963.Template:Sfn

Public-sector employees in Niamey comprised a large part of Niger's workforce in the mid-1960s,Template:Sfn and the proportion grew to 14% by 1980.Template:Sfn The government of Hamani Diori aimed to increase the country's industrial activities; Niamey received a textile production facility and a refrigerated slaughterhouse.Template:Sfn Niamey's groundnut industry rapidly grew around this time, which contributed to increasing the capital's population to 108,000 in 1972.Template:Sfn Diori's government established a party militia in 1964, stationing personnel in each of the city's seventeen quartiers.Template:Sfn An urban plan in the 1960sTemplate:NoteTag introduced developments including a greenbelt.Template:Sfn The plan ended the distinction between European and indigenous neighbourhoods, aiming to lower the disparity within the city's population density. Despite this, housing insecurity increased, and the informal settlement of Template:Ill was created in 1966.Template:Sfn Diori led the inaugural summit of the Template:Lang in 1969 in Niamey,Template:Sfn giving the city unprecedented media coverage, after which Diori launched a rebranding campaign for the city, which included naming of streets.Template:Sfn The Kennedy Bridge opened in 1970 and connected the left bank of Niamey to the much less populated right bank, which then began to urbanise.Template:Sfn

A national uranium boom in the 1970s and 1980s improved the economy of Niamey. The city's public spending was then invested in modern buildings, resulting in an era of opulent architecture in a revival of the Sudanese style.Template:Sfnm The economic situation caused a baby boom. Meanwhile, a drought in 1972–73 brought a wave of migrants that led to rapid urban sprawl, and Malian immigrants settled in the outer parts of the city.Template:Sfnm As a result, the population of Niamey grew from 108,000 to 398,365 inhabitants, and the city limits expanded from Template:Cvt in 1970 to Template:Cvt by 1977, annexing peripheral villages.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

After the military government of Seyni Kountché took power in the 1974 coup, there were strict controls on residency and the government would regularly round up and deport those without permits back to their villages.Template:Sfn The government established a daily curfew and placed 10,000 political agents in the city, which had a population of 400,000.Template:Sfnm A second drought occurred in 1983–84, bringing about 150,000 migrants to Niamey.Template:Sfnm Kountché's government responded to the ensuing housing crisis with eviction and resettlement to new districts including Lazaret and Template:Ill, but the crisis continued.Template:Sfn Kountché's government also constructed water sources in the city's peripheryTemplate:Sfn and led the construction of the Grand Mosque of Niamey, funded by the Libyan government.Template:Sfn In 1984, the Template:Lang (Template:Translation) divided Niamey into five districts, subordinate to the Prefect Mayor, to manage the large population. These were reorganised into the Niamey Urban Community (Template:Lang, CUN), with three municipalities, in 1989. In the 1990s, with further reorganisation and decentralisation, the city's growth rate slightly declined.Template:Sfn

Democratisation era and urban reorganisation

The Niger river, with a bridge. The background has some small buildings, while some multi-storey buildings are closer to the camera.
View from the left bank overlooking the Kennedy Bridge in 1990

In the 1990 Kennedy Bridge massacre, soldiers killed three student protestors. This event propelled protests and political participation in support of democracy.Template:Sfn That November, 100,000 people in Niamey participated in a general strike against president Ali Saibou, after which he agreed to establish a democratic council.Template:Sfn In 1993, the year Mahamane Ousmane became the first democratically elected president, Niamey had high rates of poverty and unemployment as public-sector jobs decreased.Template:Sfnm Niger's democratisation effected an upsurge in the popularity of private radioTemplate:Sfn and in Islamic discourse.Template:Sfn Islamic groups based in Niamey, including Izala Society supporters, played major roles in protests against the Ousmane government's proposed family law in 1994 and against the city's hosting of the Template:Ill in 2000.Template:Sfnm A coup d'état organised in Niamey in February 1996 installed Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara as president.Template:Sfn Baré was unpopular in Niamey as public-sector employment decreased and state-run urban services declined.Template:Sfn On 9 April 1999, Baré was ambushed, shot, and killed at Niamey's airport during a coup d'état.Template:Sfn

The CUN was reorganised in 1996 amid a wide reorganisation of the country's municipalities. The CUN became a first-level region of Niger and was divided into five municipalities. The plan allowed the region to shrink to centralise the area managed, but a 2002 plan instead allowed each municipality to expand within a perimeter to benefit from urban growth. This plan redrew municipalities' boundaries based on pre-colonial settlements, with consulting from traditional chiefs.Template:Sfn Administrative decentralisation in 2004 gave these municipalities control over zoning, leading to a dispute with the CUN. Residents of the village of Template:Ill disagreed with being incorporated into the CUN.Template:Sfn In 2011, the municipalities were reorganised as municipal districts, undoing the decentralisation.Template:Sfn

A taxi at a roundabout with an abstract sculpture. There are water towers in the background.
Place du Liptako-Gourma in 2018

Urban development projects in the 2010s involved the expropriation and destruction of neighbourhoods. These projects included president Mahamadou Issoufou's Template:Lang initiative, launched in 2011, and preparation for the city's hosting of an African Union summit in 2019.Template:Sfn In 2013, American and French military bases were established at adjacent parts of Diori Hamani International Airport.Template:Sfnm Niamey was the site of protests against the 2021 presidential election and president-elect Mohamed Bazoum; most Niameyans believed he had stolen the election as the city had overwhelmingly voted for Ousmane. Air force units in the city led a failed coup against Bazoum before his inauguration.Template:Sfn In July 2023, the Niger junta began renaming street names from the colonial era to more local names, such as replacing the name of Charles de Gaulle with that of Bakary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2024, the junta's leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, declared the dissolution of local governments, replacing the mayor of Niamey, Oumarou Dogari, with an army official.<ref name="AFP 2024">Template:Cite news</ref> The same month, hundreds rallied in Niamey to demand the withdrawal of the US military from the country.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The US withdrew its troops from Niamey in July 2024.<ref name="Reuters 2024">Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

A river flowing southeast, curving inward on each side. Development on both sides of the river, mostly the northeast side.
Niamey seen from Spot Satellite
A colourful boat on the bank of a marshy river. The city skyline is behind the river.
The Niger River, with Kennedy Bridge on the right

Niamey is in the western part of Niger,Template:Sfn surrounded by the Tillabéri Region.Template:Sfn Located between the longitudes Template:Nobr and Template:Nobr and the latitudes Template:Nobr and Template:Nobr, it covers an area of Template:Cvt, of which Template:Cvt is urban, Template:As of.Template:Sfn It is located on the Niger River, mostly on the plateau of the left bank (east side), with a few developments on the alluvial plain of the right bank.Template:Sfnm The city's height above sea level mostly ranges from 190 m to 230 m on the left bank and from 180 m to 185 m on the right bank; the highest point, Template:Ill, reaches 250 m.Template:Sfnm

The Niger is Niamey's only permanent river. Template:Lang (wadis) form temporarily, mostly on the left bank, and have become more common since the 1970s due to human activity.Template:Sfnm The river is fed by Template:Lang in the Inner Niger Delta, with the flow in the city mainly coming from three Template:Lang on the right bank: Template:Ill, Template:Ill, and Sirba.Template:Sfnm The plateau of Niamey pushes the river's flow to be straight.Template:Sfn Niamey is downriver from the Sélingué Dam in Mali, which has regulated the river's water level and prevented the city from losing water during droughts.Template:Sfn A series of sandy islands lies from Niamey upstream to Karma; the largest are Boubon, Template:Ill, and Template:Ill.Template:Sfn As Template:Lang form alluvial fans, the river is prone to flooding. Erosion and sedimentary deposits cause high siltation of the river, preventing it from flowing during periods of dryness, which threatens agriculture in Niamey.Template:Sfnm

Niamey is between the geological regions of Liptako on the west and the Iullemmeden Basin on the east.Template:Sfnm It sits atop plateaus of sand and laterite,Template:Sfn which are extracted by the city's quarries.Template:Sfn The city centre is built on bedrock formed by the West African Craton on the east bank, while the porous sediment of the Iullemmeden lies on both banks.Template:Sfn

Niamey's vegetation consists of tiger bush shrubland on the plateau and millet fields and savanna in the valleys.Template:Sfn Some trees are planted by government projects; a greenbelt was created in the 1960s, and areas in the city centre were planted in the mid-1970s by the Kountché administration.Template:Sfn The greenbelt covers Template:Cvt of the peri-urban area, though most of its original space is no longer forested, and nine other green spaces each cover Template:Cvt.Template:Sfnm Most trees in the city are maintained by residents, who use them for shade (which provides space for outdoor events) and for fruit.Template:Sfnm Common trees planted by residents include neem, mango, and étagère.Template:Sfn Most of the city's tree coverage is of introduced species; some were introduced during the colonial era, and others, including neem, were planted for the greenbelt.Template:Sfn The predominant natural trees are Combretaceae, including the species Acacia albida, which is maintained for soil regeneration.Template:Sfnm Urban gardens take up Template:Cvt, Template:As of.Template:Sfn The city's woodland and shrubland coverage decreased from 35% in 1968 to 7% in 2009, despite a stagnant area of agricultural land.Template:Sfn

Cityscape

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The density of Niamey decreases with distance from the built-up city centre,Template:Sfn with some rural settlements within and surrounding the locality.Template:Sfn The Niamey Urban Community incorporates several surrounding towns and villages that have been annexed.<ref name="Decalo1997">Template:Cite book pp. 225–227</ref> Niamey's grid plan includes wide boulevards linking roundabouts,Template:Sfn alongside dirt roads in residential areas.Template:Sfn

Houses in Niamey have building materials associated with their inhabitants' social strata, ranging from huts to European-style villas.Template:Sfnm Most houses are fenced.Template:Sfn Mudbrick is popular as an inexpensive, local construction method,Template:Sfn having replaced lighter materials as the colonial city was established.Template:Sfn In the post-independence era, more expensive, imported materials such as cement and reinforced concrete became more popular. Urban planning authorities favour cement over mudbrick, which is associated with poverty.Template:Sfnm The vast majority of the population in the 2000s lived in mudbrick buildings.Template:Sfn Many neighbourhoods, both formal and informal, have dense populations who rent multifamily compounds made of mudbrick with shared courtyards. Most of these compounds are not connected to the electricity grid or running water.Template:Sfnm

Municipally allocated land lots typically measure 300 to 400 square metres.Template:Sfn Much of Niamey's urban expansion involves informal neighbourhoods, or Template:Lang,Template:NoteTag which are constructed by their residents without administrative approval and are allocated and zoned by traditional chiefs (See Template:Section link).Template:Sfn This kind of settlement became popular during the 1970s housing crisis and proliferated during the 1990s economic decline.Template:Sfnm Government zoning and public housing projects often focus on middle-class residents, motivating lower-class residents to live in informal settlements.Template:Sfn Though Niger recognises traditional ownership, the parallel land market violates the city code, so these neighbourhoods have ambiguous government approval. The government variably rebuilds such neighbourhoods or destroys them for new development.Template:Sfn

Niamey is a polycentric city.Template:Sfn The city centre has poor, dense neighbourhoods that have existed since the 1930s and 1940s.Template:Sfn Some were replaced by business districts with multi-story buildings in the 2010s.Template:Sfn Such developments have caused poor residents of the area to sell their homes or be pressured to leave by gentrification projects.Template:Sfn The northernmost part of Niamey contains the poor neighbourhood of Template:Ill, which was relocated from the city centre in 1989.Template:Sfnm The city's eastern periphery is centered around the industrial zone, military barracks, commercial establishments, and Diori Hamani International Airport.Template:Sfn On the opposite side of the industrial zone is the village of Template:Ill, 5 km from downtown Niamey, which has become a peri-urban area due to nearby developments.Template:Sfn The city's largest informal neighbourhood, Template:Ill, is built on a ravine near the airport,Template:Sfn allocated by Saga's chief;Template:Sfn informal settlements expand eastward to the neighbourhood of Template:Ill, built on existing roads.Template:Sfn In the west of the city, Commune I is the wealthiest part of Niamey, with many foreign embassy workers.Template:Sfn The right bank of Niamey contains traditional Fula villages, as well as neighbourhoods that arose after the construction of Kennedy Bridge (such as Template:Ill and Template:Ill) and relocated neighbourhoods such as Template:Ill. The right bank also contains higher education institutions including Abdou Moumouni University.Template:Sfn

Climate

Template:Climate chart With monthly highs ranging from 32 °C in January to 41 °C in April,Template:Sfn Niamey is one of the hottest parts of NigerTemplate:Sfn and of the Sahel,Template:Sfn and it is one of the world's hottest major cities.Template:Sfn With an expected rainfall of 500 to 750 mm in a year,Template:Sfn it is drier than areas further west in West Africa.Template:Sfn Rainfall mostly begins with a few storms in May, then transitions to a rainy season from early June to early September, and there is practically no rain from October to April.Template:Sfn The dry season is divided into a cool dry season from November to February and a hot dry season from March to May.Template:Sfn

Niamey has a pattern of two floods. The first, termed the "local flood" or "red flood",Template:NoteTag flows from the Inner Niger Delta, usually from August to October. A smaller flood, called the "Guinean flood", is caused by rainfall that flows from Guinea's Fouta Djallon region, usually from January to March.Template:Sfnm The region around Niamey has seen increases in surface water levels following decreases in rainfall—a phenomenon known as the Niamey paradox—which has caused decreased durations of the two floods.Template:Sfn The river's flow has increased since the 1970s, which led to the distinguishment of the two floods, with the red flood shifting ahead by 40 days.Template:Sfnm The two-flood cycle causes significant flooding events, exacerbated by inadequate drainage systems, and damage is intensified when the floods overlap.Template:Sfnm In the 2000s and 2010s, the red flood increased in strength due to increased runoff, causing extreme floods in 2010, 2012, and 2013.Template:SfnTemplate:NoteTag Rainfall across the city is uneven.Template:Sfn The city is affected by droughts, especially the northern, central, and southwestern parts.Template:Sfn The driest years on record are 1972, 1982, and 1984.Template:Sfn

Leading up to the rainy season, Niamey is dry with low cloud cover, leading to significant diurnal temperature variation. In June, the temperature rises quickly in the morning and slows down by the afternoon; in August, there is a slower temperature rise in the morning and a slight decrease in the afternoon.Template:Sfn Temperatures in the hot dry season regularly exceed 40 °C and may come near the unsafe threshold of 45 °C.Template:Sfn In the cool dry season, average nighttime lows range from 14 to 18 °C.Template:Sfn Climate change led to a 1.4-degree increase in annual minimum temperatures between 1965 and 2013.Template:Sfn Winds of the African easterly jet (AEJ) contribute to the convective boundary layer in Niamey, whose depth is about 1,000 to 2,000 m (with a pressure of 850 hPa) during the rainy season and 2,000 to 3,000 m (750 hPa) leading up to the rainy season.Template:Sfn Air masses caused by small-scale burning in Niamey have been observed.Template:Sfn Land clearing in the area has led to erosion, forming Template:Lang and alluvial cones.Template:Sfn The city's heat leads to a high risk of malaria near water pools, while dust storms contribute to meningitis.Template:Sfn

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Demographics

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Template:Historical populations

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In 2022, Niamey had an estimated population of 1,407,635 (700,722 males and 706,913 females) and a population density of 2,549 per square kilometre.Template:Sfn Niamey has a high population growth rate, correlated with the national rate, which is one of the highest in the world.Template:Sfnm Oxford Economics estimated that Niamey was the world's fastest growing city in 2015, predicting a growth rate of 5.2% each year until 2030.Template:Sfnm Niamey's population is largely young; its age distribution has a median of 14 years and a third quartile of 24 years, Template:As of.Template:Sfn

Most people in Niamey work in the informal economy.Template:Sfn The city has high wealth disparity, and neighbourhoods have strong class divisions.Template:Sfn The average income is about 500 CFA francs Template:Nobr per day, Template:As of.Template:Sfn The living wage is about 100 US dollars per month, Template:As of.Template:Sfn Since the 1990s, the city's cost of living has increased while employment has decreased.Template:Sfn The number of government jobs has decreased amid neoliberal economic programs.Template:Sfn People without formal education have few job opportunities.Template:Sfn Job market saturation has made it difficult for young migrants to find employment.Template:Sfn

Most residents of Niamey rent their homes and frequently move within the urban area based on finances. Some seasonal residents arrange to keep a property within a group of roommates.Template:Sfn About 20% of households in the city have a woman as the head of household.Template:Sfn The city has many nuclear households, but preference for a large family size is widespread,Template:Sfn with an average of 4.2 children per woman Template:As of.Template:Sfn Expectations of marriage limit the social status of many young men in Niamey who cannot afford to marry.Template:Sfn

Informal settlements and squatting are common throughout the city. It does not have extensive slums, although the United Nations definition of slums includes 80% of the city.Template:Sfn The city centre has visible groups of beggars, particularly within the more trafficked neighbourhoods. Beggars have formed a well-regulated hierarchical system in which they garner money according to cultural perceptions that view groups such as disabled people as being worthy of begging.Template:Sfn

Ethnicity and language

Niamey is a cosmopolitan, highly ethnically integrated city with residents from every ethnic group of Niger and others from across West Africa.Template:Sfnm According to anthropologist Scott M. Youngstedt, Hausa people have comprised over half of the city's population since about 1980, having increased from 12% in 1960. Despite this, the Hausa largely identify as a diaspora community within a Zarma city,Template:Sfn which lies about 150 kilometres west of Hausaland.Template:Sfn Members of the Bella caste of Tuareg people have assimilated into the Zarma and Songhai cultures in the area since coming to Saga from the village of Sona Bella in the late 19th century.Template:Sfn

The Hausa and Zarma languages are Niamey's lingua francas.Template:Sfn An overwhelming majority of the city speaks Hausa,Template:Sfn including international immigrants.Template:Sfn The variety of Hausa used in the city is influenced by Zarma grammar.Template:Sfn Code switching between Hausa, Zarma, and French is common.Template:Sfn Other languages used include Fula and Tamasheq.Template:Sfn

Migration

Since Niamey's establishment as a city, the vast majority of its population has been migrants and their children. This is due to its political status as well as the effects of droughts and famines.Template:Sfn The city's population increases by 200,000 or 300,000 during the dry season due to circular migration from rural Niger.Template:Sfnm During the dry season, many Hausa residents work in the city's informal economy.Template:Sfn For rural Nigerien Hausas, Niamey is the most popular place to migrate due to its ease of travel.Template:Sfn Many Hausa migrants stay in Niamey for a few years. Most do not consider it their home, but youths in the 21st century often feel stronger connections to the city. Those who stay in the city permanently are seen within the community as "left behind".Template:Sfn Many such people prefer Niamey for its standard of living and lack of violence, despite difficulties with employment and affordability. Others cannot afford to return home.Template:Sfn

Many Niamey residents desire to move out of the country, and social groups are formed with this goal. These groups often fund emigrations to receive remittances in return. It is common for international emigrants to return to the city after long periods.Template:Sfn Hausa migrants to Niamey often emigrate internationally, comprising a large part of the international Hausa diaspora.Template:Sfn Hausa migrants within Niger are composed about equally of men and women, but, as men emigrate internationally, women typically stay in Niamey, often with their in-laws.Template:Sfn Some Niameyans are educated in Western cities such as Paris, Hamburg, New York City, and Greensboro, the latter being nicknamed Little Niamey.Template:Sfn

The foreign-born population of Niger is mostly centered in Niamey and Tillabéri.Template:Sfn Nigerian Yoruba businesspeople come to Niamey because it has less competition than other cities in Niger. Yoruba people first came to Niamey in the 1950s, immigrating from Shaki and Igboho. They comprised 2.4% of the city in 1961Template:NoteTag before large-scale immigration began in the 1970s.Template:Sfn Niamey has had waves of Tuareg refugees from northern Mali since the 1960s, caused by war or drought. The city has about 4,000 such people, Template:As of, and they formed an advocacy group in 2012. Many upper-caste Tuaregs experience lower social status in Niamey than in Mali.Template:Sfn Many Tuareg migrants work as brickmakers or water vendors (see Template:Section link).Template:Sfn Niamey has Niger's largest Chinese population, composed of mostly short-term residents.Template:Sfn The city's first Chinese women came in the 1980s with their Nigerien husbands, who they met at universities in Guangzhou.Template:Sfn Some Chinese women are employed by the public sector or by Chinese corporations; they come from cities or provinces that have relations with Niger.Template:Sfn Others, largely from southern China, establish businesses.Template:Sfn

Religion

Islam

Template:See also

A room with a patterned wood window.
Interior of the Grand Mosque of Niamey

An Islamic revival in West Africa began in the 1990s,Template:Sfnm turning Niamey into a centre of religious activism.Template:Sfn This occurred during the era of democratisation and the breakdown of formal education in Niger, and the city saw an increase in political Islam and support for Islamic education centres, known locally as Template:Lang.Template:Sfn In subsequent decades, the city saw an increase in hijab use, mosque constructions, public sermons, and Arabic language students.Template:Sfnm In neighbourhoods such as Template:Ill, the Islamic revival has increased the popularity of traditionalist gender roles that require women to stay at home, which are promoted by most Islamic educators in the city.Template:Sfnm

Sufism is popular in Niamey, and most Template:Lang are affiliated with the movement.Template:Sfn Izala, a Salafi movement opposed to Sufism, is much smaller than the Tariqa Sufi movement in Niamey, but theological debates between the two are frequent.Template:Sfn Izala gained traction in Niamey in the early 1990s and was present across the city by the 2000s.Template:Sfn The movement established educational institutions,Template:Sfn and its preachers became celebrities.Template:Sfn Many congregations in the city became more conservative as they shifted from Sufism from Izala.Template:Sfn Shiism came to Niamey later and became the target of anti-Shiism by Izala supporters.Template:Sfn A reformist Izala faction known as Sunnance is centered on teaching its view on the sunnah rather than establishing political presence.Template:Sfn It is popular among youths who reject the traditionalism of mainstream Izala.Template:Sfn

Template:Lang largely target the city's women and young people.Template:Sfn During the Islamic revival, these provided the first Islamic education for many women in the city.Template:Sfn Women with formal employment are one of the largest contingents of Islamic education proponents in the city.Template:Sfn The city's Islamic broadcast media largely targets women.Template:Sfn Public sermons, known as Template:Lang, typically take place on Thursdays.Template:Sfn Sunnance preachers in Niamey perform Template:Lang, a form of Islamic outreach that involves preaching to large gatherings, with a nontraditional, dramatic style that involves narrative, humour, and colloquialisms.Template:Sfn Popularised in the 2000s and 2010s, it is opposed by many Sufi and mainstream Izala leaders in the city.Template:Sfn Many mosques in Niamey prohibit Template:Lang, which is often instead performed in public places, increasing its visibility.Template:Sfn Sunnance followers in the city also hold theological discussion groups they call Template:Lang.Template:Sfn

Christianity

The Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral, seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Niamey

Template:See also Christians in Niger are mostly concentrated in Niamey and Maradi.Template:Sfn Niamey has a Christian community descended from migrants. A large church is run by wealthy Christians with ties to Maradi and Tibiri. Francophone African immigrants are served by a French-language church and the Template:Lang, a library run by the organisation SIM.Template:Sfn Pentecostalism has a widespread media presence, paralleling that of Izala.Template:Sfn The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Niamey was founded in 1942 and has been the metropolitan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Niger since 2014.Template:Sfn

Niamey's first Catholic mission was established in 1931 by Father Template:Ill.Template:Sfn The Catholic mission has run secular schools in Niamey since 1949, having been supported by the colonial government as Islam overtook animism in the area.Template:Sfn Initially teaching only boys, the Catholic school became coeducational in 1961.Template:Sfn The Baptist Church became active in the city in the late 20th century.Template:Sfn The Template:Lang, a Christian group established in 1989, is primarily active in Niamey.Template:Sfn

Economy

Sacks of grain being sold next to a narrow road with cars and pedestrians.
Marketplace at the Template:Lang

Niamey is the primate city of Niger.Template:Sfn Its economic development was limited during the colonial era due to its lack of connections to other cities. Urban expansion in the 1970s and 1980s led to it becoming a regional economic centre, though its economic power is limited by its distance from larger centres, emigration to other countries, and the instability of the region.Template:Sfn The jihadist insurgency in Niger has limited foreign demand for goods in the country, hindering some commerce in Niamey.Template:Sfn

Niamey's main economic activities are commercial.Template:Sfn Most people in the city rely on informal peddlers and street markets for common purchases, including food, clothing, water (see Template:Section link), and pharmaceuticals (see Template:Section link). These vendors typically sell a single product or service.Template:Sfn The Niamey Grand Market (Template:Lang) is the city's largest commercial site,Template:Sfn and the Template:Lang in the city centre is the largest vegetable market.Template:Sfn Street food vendors, mostly women, sell cowpea-based foods such as kossaï, primarily at breakfast time.Template:Sfn

Niamey has extensive urban agriculture including animal husbandry.Template:Sfn The city is located in a pearl millet and cowpea growing region; agricultural products include millet, meat, eggs, and dairy.Template:Sfn Rice is grown on the floodplains the Niger River in neighbourhoods including Saga, Kirkissoye, and Template:Ill,Template:Sfnm though rice is mostly imported.Template:Sfn Niamey's agricultural infrastructure enables the farming of more resource-intensive vegetables than in rural parts of Niger.Template:Sfn Demand for food in Niamey has led to an increase in farming of potatoes, which had previously been a luxury in the region. Farmers in nearby villages purchase potato seeds primarily from the Template:Lang and sell potatoes for a higher profit than more common crops.Template:Sfn Livestock includes sheep and goats in the urban area and cattle in the periphery.Template:Sfn

Niamey has little industrial activity, and most products are imported.Template:Sfn Manufacturing industries include leatherworking, chemicals, and soap production. Food processing activities include brewing, dairy, meatpacking, and syrup production.Template:Sfn Financial investment is primarily from Nigerien citizens. The city has about ten commercial banks, as well as a housing bank and an agricultural bank.Template:Sfn

Culture

Residents of Niamey have various kinds of conversation groups.Template:Sfn Tea drinking groups for young men, known as Template:Lang, are located at many spaces in the city.Template:Sfn Template:Lang originated in Niamey during the 1990s democratisation era before spreading to other Nigerien cities; some members of Template:Lang attribute their creation to the protests against the Kennedy Bridge massacre.Template:Sfn Being active at night, Template:Lang defend their neighbourhoods, especially in areas without police patrols.Template:Sfn Template:Lang are primarily a phenomenon of unemployed men, though many Template:Lang in the city consist of students,Template:Sfn and some include women.Template:Sfn Many women in the city instead form smaller gatherings or financially supportive social groups called Template:Lang.Template:Sfnm The city's Hausa conversation groups, or Template:Lang groups, usually assemble at streetside spots.Template:Sfn These groups, often formed through hometown connections, are single-gender and mostly male. Most of the city's Hausa men lack full-time employment, so they spend most of their time with these groups.Template:Sfn The city's Template:Lang groups include seasonal and long-term migrants, and some include non-Hausa people. Many people are members of multiple groups.Template:Sfn

New Year's Eve is a popular holiday in Niamey due to global influence, though conservative Muslims reject it for its associations with Christmas and alcohol. It was rarely celebrated in Niamey until widespread festivities a few weeks after the city hosted the 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie.Template:Sfn New Year's Eve provides an economic boost, being the most popular day for live music and nightlife, the only secular holiday to feature feasts, and, for many Niameyans, the only day they drink alcohol.Template:Sfn

Arts and architecture

Singers on stage.
A hip-hop concert in Niamey

Template:Lang, a form of oration built on improvising details, is popular among the city's youth.Template:Sfn With the influence of global popular culture in Niamey, some musicians perform Nigerien hip-hop music in Hausa or Zarma,Template:Sfn and hip-hop fashion is popular among young men.Template:Sfn Organisations such as the Template:Lang support hip-hop production.Template:Sfn The orchestra Tal National performs at its own concert hall in Niamey.Template:Sfn Niamey's Islamic revival increased the popularity of women's Islamic fashion, including clothing imported from the Middle East and Asia; women who wear expensive Islamic clothing are known idiomatically as Template:Lang. Meanwhile, Western fashions became popular among wealthy, Western-educated women, as well as a group of young women known as Template:Lang (Template:Translation).Template:Sfn

Niamey is the Nigerien city with the most photography studios.Template:Sfn Most photographers in the city are Togolese, Beninese, or Nigerian Yoruba immigrants, with the latter running 75% of the city's studios in 2000.Template:Sfn Apprenticeships led to the spread of Yoruba photography across the city.Template:Sfn Niamey is a centre for pottery markets, with Saga historically being a centre of Bella Tuareg pottery.Template:Sfn Most of the pottery sold in Niamey is made in the nearby village of Boubon.Template:Sfn Niamey has a large market for Tuareg craftwork and art, often purchased by Western expatriates, which has motivated Tuareg artisans to work in the city; the market of Template:Ill became a popular place for such products in the 1990s.Template:Sfn

Most of Niamey's tall buildings were built during the uranium boom of the 1970s and 1980s.Template:Sfn In addition to storefronts and high-rise office buildings, the city centre contains stadiums, cultural centers, and the Musée National Boubou Hama.Template:Sfn Niger being a predominantly Muslim country, mosques are the most common places of worship, with the Grande Mosquée being the largest in the city. There are also various Christian churches, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Niamey, and the Cathedral de Maourey.<ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 2103</ref><ref name="Bradt">Geels, Jolijn, (2006) Bradt Travel Guide – Niger, pgs. 93–113</ref> The Template:Ill neighbourhood, the first dense housing estate in the city, was designed by the firm united4design for middle-class residents. It was built with local materials and was one of the first projects in the city to use compressed earth block construction.Template:Sfn

Sport

Seats at a stadium with a few thousand people.
People watching a football game at the Stade Général Seyni Kountché

Many men in Niamey are fans of football. The national stadium, Stade Général Seyni Kountché, holds matches between Nigerien football teams as well as international matches.Template:Sfn Football clubs were established in each quartier of Niamey in 1964, under Diori Hamani.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prominent football clubs in Niamey's neighbourhoods include Olympic FC de Niamey in Template:Ill, Sahel SC in the Template:Langr neighbourhood, AS Renaissance in Boukoki, and Template:Langr in Template:Ill.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Niamey also holds the annual national traditional wrestling competition.Template:Sfn The city's basketball league is the only one in operation in the Nigerien Basketball Federation, Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Media

The press in Niger is predominantly centred in Niamey. The government ran radio broadcasts in the city since independence; the Office of Radio and Television of Niger was formed in 1967 to broadcast government propaganda, which continued until democratisation in 1990. Niamey had the country's first commercial radio in 1994.Template:Sfn Radio networks based in Niamey include Studio Tamani and Studio Kalangou.Template:Sfn Many Hausa residents consume international news media such as BBC Hausa.Template:Sfn The first television programming in Niamey was the Niger School Television Program in 1966.Template:Sfn

Governance

Administration

File:Hôtel de ville de Niamey 01.jpg
City Hall of Niamey

Niamey makes up a capital district of Niger, the Niamey Urban Community (CUN), a first-level subdivision equal to the seven regions of Niger. The CUN's administration, appointed by national leaders, is led by the Governor of Niamey, accompanied by the Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General.Template:Sfn<ref name=sahel20110701>Template:Cite news</ref> On a municipal level, forty-five councillors are popularly elected and in turn elect the Prefect Mayor; the first mayor under this system was Oumarou Dogari in 2011.<ref name=sahel20110701 /> The City Council and Mayor have limited roles compared to the CUN Governor.<ref name=sahel20110701 /> The city was placed under military rule in 2024, with the municipal government being dissolved.<ref name="AFP 2024" /> Before, the municipal government was largely funded through sale of land.Template:Sfn The CUN also has three traditional chiefdoms: Template:Ill lies entirely within the community, while Karma and Template:Ill extend into Tillabéri Region.Template:Sfn Traditional chiefs have less power than in other parts of Niger; they perform tax collection and act as community representatives.Template:Sfn Neighbourhood chiefs (Template:Lang) also exist without government recognition, mostly in lower-class neighbourhoods.Template:Sfn

Niamey has one of two courts of appeal in the judiciary of Niger (with the other in Zinder). The Court of Appeal of Niamey oversees four district courts, including the Higher District Court of Niamey,Template:Sfn which has the largest caseload in Niger.Template:Sfn Other courts located in Niamey include the Niamey Regional Court, the Council of State and the Constitutional Court.Template:Sfn

Niamey has a low rate of violent crime.Template:Sfn The city's public spaces, including greenspaces and market neighbourhoods, have criminal reputations in public discourse.Template:Sfn With increased police presence after the 2010 coup, Niamey was divided into three sectors with night patrols by different state police groups: the Gendarmerie Nationale on the right bank, Police Nationale on the left bank, and Garde Nationale on the north side.Template:Sfn Niamey has a higher proportion of women in police, customs, and forest service positions than most of the country,Template:Sfn and the gendarmerie has noted "a large proportion of single women and a preference to reside there."Template:Sfn In addition to state police, Niamey has most of the country's private security companies; the oldest, GED Services, was founded in 1988.Template:Sfn Template:Lang, informal defence forces, exist in peripheral neighbourhoods, where they are sometimes established by chiefs.Template:Sfn These belong to specific neighbourhoods, unlike police, though some Template:Lang lose the support of their neighbourhoods.Template:Sfn

Divisions

File:Niamey (district map).png
City map with the 5 communes

Under Law No. 2002-15, passed on 11 June 2002, the CUN contains five municipal districts.Template:Sfn These districts were labelled as communes of Niger, although the Niamey Urban Community is the central authority.Template:Sfn Each commune elects a council and a mayor with administrative duties.Template:Sfnm<ref name=sahel20110701 /> The urban area of the CUN is organised into 90 quartiers, and the rural area consists of 37 attached villages, Template:As of.Template:Sfn Each quartier has an elected government.Template:Sfn

Commune Population
(2022 estimate)Template:Sfn 		QuartiersTemplate:Sfn VillagesTemplate:Sfn
Niamey I 287,902 18 8
Niamey II 338,455 22 5
Niamey III 223,685 16 7
Niamey IV 376,271 23 10
Niamey V 181,321 11 8

The boundaries of Niamey's communes are based on historic villages: Niamey I contains Goudel and Yantala; Niamey II contains Maourey, across the gully of Template:Ill from Niamey I; Commune III contains Kalley; Commune IV contains Gamkalé and Saga; and Commune V, on the right bank, was the site of Fula settlements.Template:Sfn

Infrastructure

Transport

Template:Multiple image Niamey's roads are traversed by cars, motorcycles, pedestrians, goats, and camels.Template:Sfn Most of the population travels primarily by foot, while about 9% own cars, and another 9% own motorbikes, Template:As of.Template:Sfn Roads are the main mode of transportation between Niamey and the rest of Niger.Template:Sfn Niamey is crossed by the RN1 highway (or Template:Lang), connecting it to N'guigmi on the eastern edge of Niger.Template:Sfn Niamey is located on routes connecting northern Niger to coastal West Africa and the Sahara.Template:Sfn The route between Niamey and Agadez, which takes approximately one day of driving,Template:Sfn is a significant path for trans-Saharan migrants.Template:Sfn

Cargo frequently travels via Benin as it has the closest seaport to Niamey, the Template:Ill.Template:Sfn Boats are infrequently used to travel the Niger River as it traverses little of Niger. A freight company has operated along the Niger River since 1975 but, Template:As of, has an annual load of only a few thousand tons, and there is a lack of support for a planned connection to the coast.Template:Sfn The main highway in western Niger connects Niamey to Benin, linking to the country's rail system.Template:Sfn Following plans from the 1970s for a railway to Benin,Template:Sfn Niamey railway station, the first one built in Niger, was inaugurated in April 2014,<ref>Template:In lang "Inauguration of the first train station in Niamey" (Radio France Internationale)</ref><ref>"Template:Sic 80 Year-long Wait: Niger Gets its First Train Station" (Global Voices Online)</ref> and rails between Niamey and Dosso, Niger, were completed in January 2016. However, the extension to Benin failed, the rails fell into disrepair, and disassembly began in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Niamey is served by Diori Hamani International Airport, located to the southeast of the city centre.Template:Sfn The airport houses a military base, Template:Langr.<ref name="Reuters 2024" />

Healthcare

Most people in Niamey have experience with biomedicine, Islamic medicine, and folk medicine (including medicinal plants and spiritual healing), with uncertainty about health issues requiring them to seek multiple providers.Template:Sfn The city has better healthcare than rural Niger,Template:Sfn though patients are often unhappy with medical professionals whose behaviour is impersonal or violates social norms.Template:Sfnm Template:As of, Niamey has one doctor for every 6,774 people, one nurse for every 3,765 patients, and one midwife for every 832 women of reproductive age, lower than WHO recommendations.Template:Sfn Scarcity of required medications, materials, and labour leads to a high level of improvisation among the city's medical professionals.Template:Sfn Marabouts who act as folk healers are common the city, advertising their treatments to the population with limited access to biomedicine.Template:Sfn Most pharmaceuticals are purchased from street vendors, known in Hausa as Template:Lang (Template:Lit),Template:NoteTag who sell generic drugs in individual portions for much lower prices than licensed pharmacies. These began operating in the 1990s and became widespread in the 2010s.Template:Sfn The city's Template:Lang are universally male and largely Zarma, and they carry products in pushcarts or on their heads.Template:Sfn They lack pharmaceutical expertise and buy from unlicensed wholesalers, mostly at the Grand Market.Template:Sfn Despite widespread views of medical professionals as charlatans, Niameyans largely rely on Template:Lang when facing health problems.Template:Sfn

File:Niamey quartier référence (cropped).jpg
A hospital in Niamey

The largest medical facilities in Niamey are the Niamey National Hospital and the Lamordé National Hospital.Template:Sfn The Niamey National Hospital, Niger's main referral hospital, treats mostly outpatients, particularly in the specialisations of dentistry, ophthalmology, and ENT.Template:Sfn A national economic decline in the late 1990s caused low funding for the National Hospital.Template:Sfn Maternité Issaka Gazoby (MIG) is the national-level obstetric and gynaecological referral hospital.Template:Sfn Additional maternity wards are in the Talladjé and Template:Ill neighbourhoods.Template:Sfnm Other health centres include the Magori Clinic and the Lakouroussou Clinic.Template:Sfn Blood transfusions are performed at the Niamey Regional Blood Transfusion Center, with plans to be implemented at the National Hospital and MIG, Template:As of.Template:Sfn Niamey is also home to Niger's reference hospital for tuberculosis, the National Anti-Tuberculosis Center.Template:Sfn

Despite the presence of maternal health centres, Niamey has high maternal mortality,Template:Sfn with a rate of 30.7 per 100,000 births Template:As of.Template:Sfn Many patients seeking prenatal care get inadequate treatment.Template:Sfn Biomedical contraception is widely availabile in pharmacies and medical facilities but is used less frequently than plant-based folk medicine, as many people view it as foreign.Template:Sfn Many Niameyan women use contraception or abortion to control birth spacing, despite norms favouring large families.Template:Sfn As abortion is illegal in the country, they often seek abortions abroad.Template:Sfn

Public utilities

Template:As of, 54.4% of households in Niamey have electricity, while 38.3% have water.Template:Sfn Niamey's electrical grid is run by NIGELEC, a state-owned enterprise. The city's water supply is operated by the private firm Template:Lang (SEEN) and runs on infrastructure owned by the state-owned Template:Lang (SPEN). Many residents of Niamey lack connections to these utilities because urban expansion has outpaced the expansion of the grids.Template:Sfn Many informal neighbourhoods are excluded from utilities as their residents lack legal recognition.Template:Sfn Some residents of informal neighbourhoods negotiate with the public utility firms or invest their own funds to connect to the grids.Template:Sfn The grids are unreliable during the hot dry season, especially on the right bank.Template:Sfnm

Energy

Energy in Niger, including in Niamey, is dependent on imports from Nigeria, which were halted in the 2020s due to tensions between the countries. A 132-kilovolt connection to Niamey from Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria, has a capacity of 120 megawatts. The city's grid is also powered by the thermal power plants of Gorou Banda (80 megawatts) and Istithmar (89 megawatts) as well as a solar power plant (30 megawatts).Template:Sfn The United Nations Economic and Social Council began solar power development in the city in 1964, the first in West Africa.Template:Sfn The city has a climate conducive to solar panels but lacks financial incentives for widespread implementation.Template:Sfn

Niamey has typical electricity usage for a city. Its average electrical load is about 90 megawatts, with a peak of about 123 megawatts during extreme heat. Niamey frequently experiences power outages,Template:Sfn despite government plans for the country's oil industry to improve electricity access.Template:Sfn Some residents who are not connected to the electrical grid install electric generators, solar panels, or unauthorised wiring that connects to the grid, while others rely on portable lights and mobile phone charging services.Template:Sfn Firewood is a vital energy source in the city, with annual usage increasing from 70,000 tons in 1977 to 200,000 tons in 2007. It is harvested from distant forests, with the largest source being the municipality of Torodi.Template:Sfn

Water

A family receives water from a standpipe. Some metal pushcarts, each containing ten jugs, surround the standpipe.
A standpipe with Template:Lang carts

The Niger River is the sole source of Niamey's water supply.Template:Sfn Increased use resulted in a decline in the river's water quality in the late 20th century.Template:Sfn Unlike most of Niger, Niamey has a central water supply, so the resource is sold as a commodity.Template:Sfn According to official sources, pipes serve about 65% of Niamey's population Template:As of.Template:NoteTag The rest receive water from sources such as publicly funded standpipes or water towers funded by charities or Islamic organisations.Template:Sfnm Standpipes are the cheapest source of water, with a cost of 15 francs (3 US cents) for 25 litres, Template:As of.Template:Sfn Niamey's neighbourhoods have uneven access to water. Neighbourhoods in both the periphery and the city centre have low use of taps; SEEN does not operate in these neighbourhoods due to their topography or lack of legal recognition.Template:Sfnm Hand-dug wells exist in lower-class neighbourhoods of the periphery and are often polluted,Template:Sfnm though they have become rare as neighbourhoods install communally funded boreholes.Template:Sfn More affluent neighbourhoods in the periphery are connected to the pipe system.Template:Sfn In such neighbourhoods, wealthy residents often supply water for their poorer neighbours.Template:Sfn Compounds have taps in courtyards; only upper-class residents have taps inside their houses.Template:Sfn Access to piped water is unreliable during the dry season,Template:Sfn when water usage increases due to heat. During this time, water is supplied by water towers, installed by SEEN in most neighbourhoods, or smaller tanks in some households and compounds.Template:Sfnm

People whose homes lack piped water purchase water from vendors, leading to higher water prices for poorer residents.Template:Sfn Water deliverers, known in Hausa as Template:Lang (Template:Lit), purchase water from standpipes to fill 25-litre jugs, which they deliver to households via pushcart.Template:Sfnm Providing over half of the city's drinking water,Template:Sfn Template:Lang operate in groups on regular routesTemplate:Sfn and make an above-average income.Template:Sfn Template:Lang are universally male; most are immigrants from around eastern Mali who are predominantly Tuareg or Fula.Template:Sfnm They receive annual municipal licences and operate informal guilds and apprenticeships.Template:Sfn Other vendors sell water sachets, known in Hausa as Template:Lang (from the English pure water). Water sachet vendors arose around the 1990s, manually filling sachets imported from Nigeria; factories were established by the early 2000s and supplanted manual production by the 2010s.Template:Sfn Water sachets are sold by street vendors with coolers, especially in poor neighbourhoods; this is a common entry-level job in the city, with many boys employed by female relatives.Template:Sfn Water sachets are also sold at shops, including in wealthy neighbourhoods.Template:Sfnm Vendors purchase water sachets from small-scale producers, which purchase water from Template:Lang, and more popularly from large-scale producers, which use printed labels and piped water.Template:Sfn Bottled water is rare and expensive. The bottled water market is dominated by local brands—which are more contaminated than piped water—alongside high-end French brands.Template:Sfn Most households store water in clay pots.Template:Sfn

Standpipes were installed in the 1950s by the French semi-public Template:Lang, the predecessor of NIGELEC. These offered subscription pricing, leading to the Template:Lang business model.Template:Sfn The water utility became independent from NIGELEC during the Kountché administration, forming the Template:Lang) (SNE, Template:Translation) under the Template:Ill.Template:Sfn Droughts of the 1980s dried the Niger River, and construction of wells increased.Template:Sfn After the privatisation of SNE under Baré, Niamey's water supply became unreliable; in 1990, an estimated 22% of the city's inhabitants had access to water taps, though the government gave this figure as 45%.Template:Sfn SEEN began operating the city's water utility in 2001, under a plan from the World Bank.Template:Sfn The French firm Veolia Water purchased a 51% share in SEEN the same year.Template:Sfn The World Bank's plan increased the price of water, with the intention that wealthier users pay for more water, which critics say does not account for the needs of large, poor households.Template:Sfn Investment in the 2000s and 2010s led to a large increase in standpipes,Template:Sfn but access to water in the city remained low.Template:Sfn

Waste management and sanitation

Niamey produces about 1,400 tonnes of waste per day, Template:As of.Template:Sfn Most waste consists of sand and organic matter such as pruned branches, leaves, and food waste.Template:Sfn The city does not have a standardised waste collection system. Plastic litter is common, including used water sachets.Template:Sfn Waste is often burned or enters the Niger River.Template:Sfnm Residents of some wealthy neighbourhoods hire private waste collectors, who often dump waste in poor neighbourhoods in the absence of recycling facilities.Template:Sfn Reuse of materials is common in the city; scrap metal is often recycled at the Template:Lang.Template:Sfn

Niamey's sanitation system drains wastewater with rainwater along the Gounti Yéna valley.Template:Sfn Waste dumped on the ground pollutes the river and groundwater, and litter often obstructs drainage pipes.Template:Sfnm Template:As of, municipal wastewater treatment has been non-functional for over a decade; some factories and hospitals treat their wastewater themselves.Template:Sfn Contamination of the water supply is exacerbated during the rainy season due to flooding.Template:Sfn

Education

File:Ecole Poudrière 3.jpg
A classroom in Template:Ill

Abdou Moumouni University (AMU) in Niamey is the most prominent university in Niger. It has 29,605 students, Template:As of, most of whom come from outside of the city.Template:Sfnm The university was founded as the Template:Lang in 1971 and became a university in 1973.Template:Sfn It has a large political influence, having been the site of Marxist-Leninist activism in the 1990s and Salafi activism in the 2010s, and some protests at the university have resulted in military intervention.Template:Sfn

The city has several types of secular and Islamic education. Quranic education, both formal and informal, is popular. Such education is not publicly funded, and some children in the city engage in begging to pay for it.Template:Sfn The Template:Lang, one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Niger, was founded during the colonial era by the Catholic Church.Template:Sfn Informal neighbourhoods often lack public services such as schools. After widespread advocacy from residents, the first school in the Pays Bas opened in 2008, serving 1,000 students, followed by another in Pays Bas and one in Tondigamay in 2010.Template:Sfn

Number of schools in Niamey (2022)
Level Public Private Total
PreschoolTemplate:Sfn 589 358 251
Primary schoolTemplate:Sfn 808 489 319
Secondary schoolTemplate:Sfn 253 49 204
Vocational educationTemplate:Sfn 98 16 82

Notes

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References

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Works cited

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Template:Niamey Template:Regions and departments of Niger Template:Communes of Niger Template:List of African capitals Template:Niger River Template:Authority control

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