Niger 🇳🇪

The landlocked country of Niger in North Africa is characterized by its expanse of sand dunes and desert plains. After enduring a period of military rule lasting for thirty-one years, marked by violent coups and bloody political infighting, Niger transitioned into a fledgling democracy a decade ago, albeit facing a recurring political crisis in 2023. Despite being home to one of the world’s richest deposits of uranium, Niger has shifted its focus toward agricultural development and livestock breeding. Furthermore, it holds the prospect of future economic growth through the mining of valuable resources like gold, coal, and recently discovered oil reserves.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Niger has over 3 million people in acute food insecurity. The agricultural economy is frequently destroyed by drought, making it insufficient to support the growing population. Despite government efforts to increase agricultural production and the development of uranium mining, the gross national product has declined sharply. Now with the recent 2023 coup, that number will go up with food aid trapped at the border. Slavery is still practiced in isolated areas of the country. Children are trafficked for work at gold mines, Sexual exploitation, and begging. Women get kidnapped and forced into servitude or prostitution, and boys are taken for labor in stone quarries. A land dispute between Libya remains unresolved and often triggers acts of violence.

Less than two percent of the population claims the Christian faith. Ninety-three percent of the nation is Muslim, with seventy-eight percent of the people listed as unreached ethnic groups. Christianity is slowly growing through humanitarian efforts such as well-digging, agricultural development, and education. The number of Evangelicals triples every year, though that is not keeping up with population growth. The cultural pressure to maintain the Islamic faith continues to hinder outreach efforts, though indigenous pastors, many of whom have converted to Christianity from Islam themselves, are stepping up as leaders in the fledgling church.