News

The World Bank has prepared about $760m in additional financing for Niger, its vice-president for West and Central Africa, Ousmane Diagana, said on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine in Niamey, according to the state news agency ANP. The sum would come on top of more than $4bn the Bank already has in the country, and would be used over the next five years to prepare larger operations that build on the results of earlier ones, he said. ANP says the money has been “prepared”; it does not say it has been approved or paid, and names no projects. (Agence Nigérienne de Presse)

Mr Diagana named three priorities: making electricity accessible and affordable, helping farmers move beyond food insecurity, and water, which he called a precondition for both power and agriculture. He said work under an energy agreement between Niger and the Bank had already begun. The Bank announced its 2026–2031 partnership frameworks, covering Niger and three neighbouring countries, in April. (World Bank, April 2026)

The meeting followed a roundtable of donors on Wednesday about the Kandadji dam on the River Niger. Mr Zeine said the programme’s updated cost is $1.561bn, of which $1bn has been committed, leaving about $561m to find. Commitments are not payments. The reports do not say whether any of the Bank’s $760m is meant for the dam. (Le Sahel (ONEP))

Kandadji is planned to supply drinking water to cities, regulate the river, generate electricity through a 130-megawatt power station and irrigate 45,000 hectares of farmland, and it involves resettling people from the area. Mr Zeine blamed delays on the number of agencies, rules and procedures involved, on difficulties carrying out the works and on insecurity. He said the government wants the World Bank to act as lead partner and a common financing mechanism to cut costs and delays.

Niger undertook to send its partners, by 30 November, an updated progress report, a completion roadmap, its financial position and a strategy for raising the remaining money. It also promised to pay its own share of the cost, make sure the contractor meets its obligations, guarantee security at the sites and be transparent about resettlement.