Republic of NigerGovernment Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Capital: Niamey
Head of State: Abdou Labo (Democratic Social Convention)
Head of Government: Foumakoye Gado (Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism)
Composition of Parliament:
Governing Coalition: Democratic Social Convention (30 Seats), Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (20 Seats), Social Democratic Rally (9 Seats), Nigerien Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally (3 Seats), 62 Seats Total
Major Opposition Party and Allies: National Movement for the Development of Society (39 Seats), Rally for Democracy and Progress (6 Seats), 45 Seats Total
Other Parties: Union of Independent Nigeriens (4 Seats), Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress (2 Seats)
In the recent December 2009 elections, the NMDS was swept from power in Parliament by the coalition of the DSC and NPDS largely due to extremely low turnout. Voters by and large feel that the government has utterly failed to bring any prosperity to Niger and were far more busy on simply trying to survive to worry about an election. Additionally the still simmering Second Tuareg Rebellion greatly hurt the reputation of the former government. There are some tensions between the two main ruling parties, both of them uneasy and unused to sharing power with each other. Despite this, both the President and Prime Minister seem committed to reforming and strengthening Niger, however in the year and a half that they have been in power there has been little progress and some fear a coming split in the governing coalition.
Economic and Demographic InfoPopulation (2010 Est.): 14,955,000
Population Growth Rate (2010 Est.): 2.9%
Age Structure:
0-15 years: 55.7%
16-64 years: 42.0%
65 years and over: 2.3%
Literacy: 26.5%
Average Life Expectancy: 41.25 years
Fertility Rate: 7.38 children born/woman
Religions: Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christians
Official Language: French
Total GDP (PPP): $4.167 Billion
GDP per capita: $279
Human Development Index (Est. 2010): 3.61
GDP - composition by sector:
Agriculture: 40%
Industry: 18%
Services: 42%
Major Industries: uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses
Exports: uranium ore, livestock products, cowpeas, onions
Government Budget: $370 Million ($146 Million from Foreign Aid)
The economy of Niger is in a shambles, to say the least. Agriculture and livestock employ over 80% of the population, yet drought cycles combined with desertification have steadily decreased the already small amount of arable land in Niger and it now has to rely on expensive food imports to stop its populace from starving each year. At the same time the population is skyrocketing the food production capability of Niger is dropping precipitately. The government treasury is practically empty, leaving it with little capital to spend on its infrastructure or economy. The populace is barely educated with a horrible literacy rate and over half of the population is under 15 putting a huge burden on the work force. Most of the population can expect little more than to eke out an existence as herders of farmers on the edge of the Sahel. Furthermore, with an average life expectancy of barely over 40 years and one of the highest fertility rates Niger faces a continuing demographic crisis - there are simply not enough educated adults to provide adequate care and education to the youth population. The few public services Niger has provided in the past have simply become completely overwhelmed. The only positive thing in the economy is uranium mining, from which the government gets a nice royalty from the French companies operating the mining. However it has become increasingly threatened by rebel groups and if foreign companies were to withdraw mining would come to a standstill for lack of educated workers. There are several known exploitable deposits of gold near Niamey, although so far only one small mine is in operation owned jointly by a Canadian company, a Moroccan company and the government. There is also a small amount of oil in the Agadem and Tenere area currently being mined and refined by the Chinese National Petroleum Company, producing around 25,000 Barrels a day. The government believes there to be reserves of around 324 Million Barrels and hopes to find more near Bilma.
