Niger

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Quick Facts

[edit]

Capital

Niamey

Population

11,666,000

Government

Republic

Religions

Islam, Indigenous beliefs, Christianity

Languages

French,Arabic, Fulfulde, Gourmanchéma, Hausa, Kanuri, Tamajaq, Tubu, Zarma

Calling Code

+227

Nationality

Local name

Contributors

• Utrecht (89%)
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Introduction

Desert of Tenerè

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Discovery of uranium in the 70s led to a tremendous burst of wealth for the young Niger. But when the world demand for uranium dropped sharply, Niger found itself ripped of its livelihood. In the twenty years since Niger's demise, the country has made little headway into developing new industries. Eyes are turning to tourism, but few are aware of the country's vast potential in this area.

This potential is characterized by stunning vistas of moonlit desert landscapes, lush oases, towering volcanic peaks and remote waterfalls. It's a destination best enjoyed in the cool of night, under the stars. Daytime activities like shopping in bustling marketplaces are well worth it, if you can stand the heat. Niger's major national park, known as Parc W, abounds with lions, cheetas, leopards, hyenas, jackals and other staple African creatures, such as elephants and crocodiles. During the rainy season, Parc W is one of West Africa's nicest parks.

Brief History

Geography

Regions

Niger is organised into 7 departments.

• Agadez
• Diffa
• Dosso
• Maradi
• Tahoua
• Tillabéri
• Zinder

Cities

• Niamey - The capital
• Zinder
• Agadez
• Dosso
• Diffa
• Tahoua

Sights and Activities

Parc National Du W Du Niger

The Parc National Du W Du Niger is a huge park of more than 9000 square kilometres and is place on the Unesco World Heritage List. It is a cross border national park with Benin and Burkina Faso being the other two countries with large parts of the park within their boundaries. Niger has about 2200 square kilometres. Although animal numbers are not huge, especially compared to its more famous brothers in the east and south of the continent, there is a wide variety of species indeed. You will definately see antelopes, buffalos, elephants, hippos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, baboons, Nile crocodiles, hyenas, jackals, warthogs and more than 300 species of bird live here as well. It mainly consists of dry savanna woodland which functions as a transition zone between the Sahel and the more humid savannas further south. The 'W' actually comes from the double bend in the Niger River at the norther border of this massive park. The entrace in Niger is at La Tapoa, about 145 kilometres from the capital Niamey and you will need a guide to get around.

Ténéré Desert

There are several places in the Sahara where that picture perfect Sahara experience will be the highlight of your trip. The Ténéré Desert is one of them and the high sand dunes are really stunning here. There are also many cave paintings and dinosaur fossils to explore. It is required for travellers to take a licensed guide to go into the desert, as police requires an official itinerary from vehicles travelling here. Licensed Nigerien travel agencies can provide these for you. The Ténéré (and Air) reserves are on the Unesco World Heritage List.

Cattle Markets

Niger is a great country to visit some cattle markets and the one at Beleyara is the most interesting one. This market is a colourful experience and here you can still be the witness of real trading commerce between the Fulani and Touareg from the north and the Bell, Songhai and Haussau tribes from the south.

Other sights and activities

• Agadez Grande Mosquée

Events and Festivals

Gerewol Festival

The Gerewol Festival is annual festival, usually held in September among the Wodaabe people.
Young men dressed in their best and most beautiful clothings perform and dance and sing. The main reason actually is quite simple: attentions of marriageable young women. And the ideal men according to traditions are tall and have white eyes and teeth, hence the rolling of the eyes which is popular during this festival.
It takes place each year in September when the nomadic Wodaabe people gather at the southern edge of the Sahara and festivities last for about a full week. The end of September marks the end of the rainy season in this part of the country. The most famous place where the Gerewol Festival is held is in In-Gall in northwest Niger, where a large festival, market and series of clan meetings take place for the Wodaabe people. But there are many more comparable festivals wherever the Woodabe people might be at that time.
Although the festivals have been held for hundreds of years, they are now much more of a tourist attraction than ever and some even have fixed dates, set by the government. The government sometimes even decides who can perform or not!

Touareg Festival de l'Aïr

The Touareg Festival de l'Aïr is a huge festival taking three solid days in December. It is all about certain aspects of the Touareg culture during this period. Every year, more and more travellers discover this fantastic gathering. From many villages, people join contests like who has the nicest cloths, the best looking camel, the most beautiful Touareg girl, the best traditional singer and best dancer. There is also a huge market where people offer there arts. The second night women make music, dance and clapping their hands when the music is playing. The dancers are really fantastic and some people watch the whole show on op of their camels, their public transport.

Weather

Niger has a hot and generally dry desert climate with a short rain season from June to September when there can be severe thunderstorms with occasonial floodings. Rains can be unpredictable though and sometimes the rainy season means just a few showers now and then. The coolest time is between November and February with warm and dry weather. Temperatures generally are still over 35 degrees Celsius though. March to June are very hot in the entire country with average daytime temperatures of 40 degrees Celcius or more, but temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius are not unheard of. Nights are warm to very warm. Only November to February has nights of roughly 15 to 18 degrees, but in the hot season temperatures at night average over 25 degrees Celcius.
More to the north, the hot season usually is a bit later and temperatures during winter are somewhat lower. Here, there is a truly desert climate with in some places virtually no measurable rain at all. Nights can be rather cold as well here during wintermonths of December to February.

Getting there

Plane

Diori Hamani International Airport (NIM) near the capital Niamey receives the bulk of international flights. Destinations include Bamako, Cotonou and Tripoli with Afriqiyah Airways, Algiers with Air Algérie, Ouagadougou and Paris with Air France, Abidjan with Air Ivoire, Dakar with Air Senegal, Casablanca and Libreville with Royal Air Maroc and Basel with Hello AG.
Point Afrique has flights between Paris/Marseille and Agadez/Niamey.

By Car

You can travel to and from Algeria along the road between Agadez in Niger and Tamanrasset in Algeria. Part of it is a sandy track, the rest is tarmac. You need to travel with a licensed travel agency though on both sides.
It's a popular part of the overland route across the central Sahara.
With your own car you are able to cross borders with Benin (Gaya/Malanville crossing), Burkina Faso (Foetchango and Téra) and there are four border crossings to Nigeria: Gaya/Kamba, Birni N’Konni/Illela (which leads south to Sokoto), Maradi/Katsina and Zinder/Jibiya.

By Bus

Buses travel between Niamey and Cotonou in Benin, taking 14 hours for the journey. Crossing is at the Gaya/Malanville border where otherwise you can take a moto and walk across if you don't feel like doing the whole trip in one stage. On both sides, there are bush taxi's.
Buses and minibuses also travel between Niamey and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, taking around 10 hours. Crossing is at Foetchango, west of Niamey.
Some 4wd vehicles make weekly trips to Mao in Chad, with onward transport to N'Djamena. The border with Libya is only open if you are going to Niger and are accompanied by a licenced travel agency.
There are two weekly trucks between Niamey and Gao in Mali, taking up to 30 hours across bad roads.
The crossings to and from Nigeria mostly include taking a bush taxi to the border and taking a moto or walk across the border with onward transport in Nigeria. There are minibuses to Kano though from Maradi and Zinder directly.
To Libya, the border is only open to traffic entering Niger, though you must be in the company of a licensed Nigerien travel agency.

By Boat

A slow boat travels between Ayorou and Gao in Mali taking around 2 days, leaving on Mondays.

Getting Around

By Plane

At the moment, there are no scheduled domestic flights in Niger.

By Train

There are no railways in Niger.

By Car

The main roads include those from Niamey to Zinder, Tahoua, Arlit and Gaya. Many other roads might only be travelled after gaining the special permition. Many secondary roads are dirt and gravel roads or the famous desert piste roads. These can be impassable after heavy rains. You can rent cars in Niamey, but if you want to travel further away you need a driver and guide and a 4wd is recommended. Travelling north of Agadeze requires a detailed itinerary, which you have to show at police checkpoints.
Traffic drives on the right and you need an international driving permit.

By Bus

Coach services operate from Niamey to Agadez, N’guemi, Tera and Zinder. The main operator is SNTV.
Otherwise, there are numerous bush taxis (mostly French wagon cars) which are cheaper and travel all routes. They are however slow and uncomfortable on longer journeys.

By Boat

From December to March you might be able to travel along the mighty Niger River between Niamey and Gaya, but only by chartered boats.

Red Tape

Almost everybody needs a visa for Niger, arranged beforehand at the nearest embassy or consulate. If you are visiting other countries in the region, you might apply for a Tourist Visa Agreement (VTE) visa, applicable for countries like Benin as well.

Money

See also Money matters

Niger uses the CFA Franc as a currency. The CFA Franc is divided into 100 centimes. Coins come in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 francs while banknotes come in denominations of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000 francs
The exchange range is fixed at aproximately 656 CFA Francs for one Euro.

In Niger the West African CFA Franc (XOF) is used which has the same vallue as the Central African CFA Franc (XAF), but it's not possible to use both currencies in the same country.

Fourteen countries in Africa use this currency, eight in West Africa and six in Central Africa. The West African CFA Franc can only be used in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, while the Central African CFA Franc can only be used in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Work

Study

Language

Eat

Sleep

Drink

Health

See also Travel Health

Safety

See also Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

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