🇳🇪 Niger

Niger is one of the world's poorest and fastest-growing countries — 26 million people with a GDP of about $15 billion and a fertility rate of 6.7 children per woman, the highest on earth. The population is projected to triple by 2050. About 80% of the country is Sahara Desert. Niger is the world's seventh-largest uranium producer, supplying about 5% of global output — France's nuclear reactors have historically depended on Nigerien uranium. A military coup in 2023 ousted the elected president and expelled French forces, part of a wave of anti-French sentiment across the Sahel. The country faces a severe jihadist insurgency along its borders with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.

Uranium, gold, and oil (production began in 2011) are the main exports. Agriculture (millet, sorghum, cowpeas) employs about 80% of the population but is entirely rain-fed and increasingly unreliable due to climate change. France was historically the dominant trade partner, but the post-coup pivot toward Russia and regional alternatives is reshaping trade patterns. Foreign aid has been a major revenue source but has been cut following the coup. The CFA franc provides monetary stability.

Niger's Agadez mosque, built in the 16th century from mud brick, has a 27-meter minaret that's one of the tallest mud structures in the world. The country's Cure Salée festival is an annual gathering of Tuareg and Wodaabe nomads featuring the Gerewol — a male beauty contest where men wear elaborate makeup and costumes to attract wives. Niger's dinosaur fossils include Nigersaurus, a bizarre sauropod with over 500 teeth arranged in rows.

Niger's demographic trajectory is unsustainable — the population is growing far faster than the economy or food production. The coup and security crisis add layers of instability. Without dramatic intervention, the humanitarian situation will worsen.