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Niger, development and cooperation
Claudia Fonseca Sosa
NIGER, located in the Sahel region, shares borders
with Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Benin, Chad, Mali and
Burkina Faso. Its economy is fundamentally based on
livestock, agriculture and the exploitation of
minerals such as uranium, carbon, zinc, iron and
phosphate.
It
is a developing nation which won its independence
from France in 1960. The majority Muslim population
is in excess of 15 million inhabitants.
Although geographically and culturally distant,
Cuban realities are not unknown to the people of
Niger.
During the recent UN General Assembly Nigerien
Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum affirmed, “The Cuban
population has suffered for decades an economic,
commercial and financial blockade imposed by the
United States. Niger calls for the lifting of this
blockade. In a recent visit to Cuba, the Foreign
Minister spoke with Granma.
Mohamed Bazoum has held different governmental
positions at the head of ministries and the National
Assembly. Currently, he is also president of the
Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS).
RENEWED LINKS
The
African leader stated that he was very satisfied
with the outcomes of his visit to Cuba, the
objective of which was to further promote bilateral
relations established in 1976. “In meetings with
Cuban authorities I was able to confirm the
convergence of political attitudes between our
governments,” he commented.
Mohamed Bazoum announced the upcoming opening in
Havana of a Nigerien embassy. He also praised the
quality of education received in Cuba by Nigerien
students training to become professionals in health
and other areas.
During the Foreign Minister’s visit, cooperation
agreements in the health sector in effect since the
1990’s were reviewed in order to improve the living
conditions of Cuban collaborators currently working
in Niger.
A
new agreement was signed with the National Sports
Institute (INDER) for technical assistance to
Nigerien trainers, as well as a memorandum of
understanding between the two nations’ Ministries of
Agriculture.
PRIORITIES FOR NIGER
Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum stated that since
the 2011 election of President Mahamadou Issoufu,
one of its central goals is to meet the country’s
infrastructural needs.
“We
are planning to build a railroad which will allow us
to transport products to and from the sea more
rapidly than can be done at present. Niger is a
country without a coastline and the closest port is
at a distance of 1,000 kilometers.
“We
are also working on energy infrastructure, such as
hydroelectric and coal processing plants. These
projects will give a significant boost to national
industry.”
He
recalled that Niger is a country with an arid
climate, which confronts long periods of drought
followed by flooding. These natural phenomena affect
agricultural production, provoking food shortages in
a significant sector of the population. “The
government must always be prepared to respond to
these emergency situations.
“Other aspirations are to mechanize agriculture in
order to improve productivity and increase our
people’s access to potable water, thus avoiding
illnesses.”
SECURITY, ESSENTIAL TO DEVELOPMENT
For
the Nigerien Foreign Minister, security currently
constitutes a priority for all African governments.
“Niger is located within an area of conflict in the
north of Africa, highly prone to inter-ethnic
violence and drug trafficking. We have only to
recall what took place in neighboring Mali barely a
year ago, when Tuareg rebels associated with
extremist elements took power in the country by
force. This situation led to the displacement of
thousands of persons. Shortly after that, there was
an attack on a gas plant in In Amenas, Algeria, as a
result of which dozens of foreign workers died.
Situations like these can occur at any moment and
destabilize the internal order, for which reason our
principal objective as a government is to guarantee
citizens’ security. Stability is essential to
development,” he affirmed.
INTEGRATION GENERATES OPPORTUNITIES
“In
order to confront all these difficulties, which are
common among the countries of the region, we need to
join forces, involving institutional and political
measures,” Mohamed Bazoum observed.
At
the regional level, Niger is a member of the African
Monetary Union and the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS). “These mechanisms offer us
the possibility to have a single monetary area, to
trade our economic and cultural products. With
ECOWAS, we can also mobilize the international
community to resolve the situation in Mali.
“In
the heart of the African Union, Niger is also a
member of this recently created Pan-African
mechanism to confront emergency situations.”
The
Foreign Minister also suggested that it would be
advantageous to establish a dialogue between the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
– of which Cuba is the current pro-tempore president
– and integration mechanisms in Africa, “because
this would be an opportunity to share development
experiences and concretize our political positions
in the international arena.”
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