Lux Development - Niger

Multiple economic, social, environmental and security problems weigh heavily on the MDGs, the main goals being to improve the poor development of human capital; environmental degradation and climate change; high population growth; low and erratic economic growth; food and nutritional insecurity; overall insecurity in the country; and the impact of security problems on neighbouring countries (Mali and Nigeria), especially in the form of migration flows.

Niger’s economy is centred on food crops, livestock, and some of the world’s largest uranium deposits. Only 18% of the population lives in cities and the majority (one million) live in the capital, Niamey. Niger shares a common currency, the CFA franc, and a common central bank, the Central Bank of West African States, with seven other members of the West African Monetary Union.

Niger’s social indicators have risen sharply for 20 years, and this trend is set to continue. The Gross Enrolment Ratio for primary education rose from approximately 29% in the early 1990s to 71% in 2016, and the number of girls attending primary school in relation to boys also increased over the same period, from 25% to 40%. The child mortality rate for under fives fell between 1990 and 2010, from 320 to 95.5 per 1,000. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in adults remains at 0.5% - one of the lowest rates in sub-Saharan Africa