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Transport inNiger primarily consists of roads, most of which are unpaved. The state runs one long distancecoach service, while other long distance and local routes are run by private companies, using a variety of vehicles. Most Nigeriens do not own vehicles. Roads are also commonly used by animals pulling wagons.
Niger has no operating railways within the country, although Niger uses railway lines in Togo and Benin to transport goods from sea ports further inland. There are multiple railway stations within the country, but none are currently operational. There is a proposal to build a rail connection toNigeria.
Niger has several airports, but only two have regular commercial international flights.
Niger's transportation system was underdeveloped during thecolonial period (1899–1960), mainly dependent on animals, humans, and limited river transport in the far southwest and southeast. No railways were built during the colonial era,[1] and roads outside the capital remained unpaved. TheNiger River is unsuitable for large-scale river transport as it lacks depth for most of the year and is interrupted by rapid speeds in many areas.Camel caravan transportation has historically been important in theSahara desert andSahel regions, which cover most of northern Niger. It is also used in theSahel area, the home of the capitalNiamey.
Transportation, including vehicles, highways, airports, and port authorities, are monitored by theNigerien Ministry of Transport's Department for Land Water and Air Transport ("Ministère des Transport et de l'aviation civile/Direction des Transports Terrestres, Maritimes et Fluviaux"). Border controls and import/export duties are monitored by the independent tax police, the "Police du Douanes." Air traffic control is monitored and operated in conjunction with Pan-AfricanASECNA, based on one of its five air traffic zones atNiamey'sHamani Diori International Airport.[citation needed] A non-governmental organization, the Nigerien Public Transport Consumer Council ("Conseil Nigérien des utilisateurs des Transports Publics CNUT"), advocates on behalf of public transport users, including roads and airports.[2]
Outside of cities, the first major paved roads were constructed from the northern town ofArlit to theBenin border in the 1970s and 1980s. This road, dubbed theUranium Highway,[citation needed] runs throughArlit,Agadez,Tahoua,Birnin-Konni, andNiamey, and is part of theTrans-Sahara Highway system.
An additional paved highway runs from Niamey viaMaradi andZinder towardsDiffa in the far east of the nation, although the stretch from Zinder to Diffa is only partially paved. Portions of this route are used by theTrans-Sahel Highway route. The Niger section is 837 km long (of which 600 km were in poor condition as of 2000), via Niamey,Dosso,Dogondoutchi, Birnin-Konni, and Maradi to theNigerian border atJibiya.
Other roads range from all-weatherlaterite surfaces to grated dirt or sandpistes, especially in the arid north.
The United States government in 1996 estimated there were a total of 10,100 km of highways in Niger, with 798 km paved and 9,302 km unpaved, but make no distinction between improved or all-weather roads and unimproved roads.[citation needed] In 2012, there were 19,675 km (12,225 mi) of road network throughout Niger, of which only 4,225 km (2,625 mi) were paved.[citation needed]
The national road system ("Routes Nationale") is numbered and prefixed with "RN", asRN1. The numbering system contains routes or sections which are as yet unpaved or even unimproved tracks.Route Nationale no. 25, for example, is a major paved highway from Niamey toFilingué, follows the partially improvedRoute Nationale no. 26 towardsAbala, veers off onto a dirt track (locally called aPiste) from the villages of Talcho to Sanam, where RN26 also terminates from another direction. RN25 then continues along a piste through a largely uninhabited desert for almost 100 km before reaching the city ofTahoua, served by other major paved roads. The main "Uranium Highway" then coincides with the RN25 toArlit in the far north. Consequently, the informal names for the routes (e.g., "Uranium Highway") serve a somewhat more practical purpose than the RN numbers.[citation needed]
Nigeriens in both urban and rural areas rely on a combination of motor vehicles and animals for the transport of themselves and commercial goods. Road transport is the major form of travel across the huge distances between Nigerien population centers despite most Nigeriens not owning their own vehicles. In cities, public transport systems are largely absent, so a variety of privately operated services carry many urban dwellers. Vans, cars, motor coaches, trucks, and even converted motorbikes provide paid transport. Intercity coach systems are the standard form of personal transport, with the government operating one bus service (theSNTV) and a multitude of buses, "bush taxis" (taxi brousse), small vans, and semi-converted trucks taking passengers and goods. Services are sometimes scheduled from the "Highway stations" ("Gares routières") found in every town but are more frequently ad hoc: vehicles ply the trade between towns, picking up at stations or anywhere along the route, and departing only when full.[citation needed]
Animals pulling wagons and loaded camel trains remain a common sight on Nigerien roads.[3]
Vehicles in Niger are subject to the "Laws of the Road" ("Code de la route"), for which the government began a continuing reform in 2004-2006, which are based substantially on French models.[citation needed] Vehicles travel on the right side of the road and roads use French-style signage.[citation needed] Routes Nationale is marked with the traditional FrenchMilestones: a white tablet with a red top, marked with the route number. Vehicle owners must obtain a registration document (“carte grise") and vehicle license plates ("plaques d’immatriculation"), which are of similar manufacture to those inGuinea andMali.[citation needed] License plates usually contain the national code "RN" for international travel.[citation needed] Niger is a signatory to the September 1949Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and thus honorsinternational drivers licenses from other signatories.[citation needed] Drivers’ licenses are regulated through the national Ministry of Transport but issued by local officials.[citation needed] Drivers must pass a driver’s test to qualify.[citation needed]
A 2009 enforcement blitz in Niamey resulted in numerous arrests of owners of small motorbikes, common in Nigerien cities. One newspaper reported that most riders believed erroneously that there was no license or regulation required by law for motorbikes under 50cc in engine size, although these had been regulated in law since 2002 but not enforced.[citation needed] Motorbikes are also common means of public transport in some Nigerien cities. These motorcycles "taxis motos", or "kabu kabu", are the primary form of taxis in cities like Zinder, Agadez, and Maradi. In Zinder, a 2009 local newspaper report claimed there were no more than "three to five" automobile taxis operating in a diffuse city, which subsequently relies upon the only partially regulated motorcycle taxi sector.[citation needed]
Road accidents have been identified as a major public health concern by theNigerien government. According toChékarou Bagoudou, Chief of the Division of Road Safety and Security of theNigerien Ministry of Transport, there were 4338 officially reported road accidents in 2008, with 7443 victims, of which 616 were killed. With the Nigerien government counting 18949 km of roads in the nation, this comes to one accident for every five kilometers in 2008. Speaking before a National Assembly session, Bagoudou said that the 42.2 billion CFA francs spent on medical costs for road accident victims accounted for around 25% of the 2008 budget of theNigerien Ministry of Public Health. Transport figures concluded that 70% of road accidents were caused by "human factors", 23% by mechanical faults, and 7% by road conditions.[2]
TheNiger River is navigable 300 km fromNiamey toGaya on theBenin frontier from mid-December to March. Thereafter, a series of falls and rapids rendered the Niger unnavigable in all seasons. In the navigable stretches, shallows prevent all but the small draft African canoes (Pirogues and Pinnases) from operating in many areas. There are four major bridges over the Niger, three in Niamey (TheKennedy Bridge, the Seyni Kountche Bridge and the Niger-Chinese friendship bridge[4] the fourth at Bac Farie:[5] plus the Niger River bridge at Gaya crosses into Benin.
Despite having no ocean or deep draft river ports, Niger does operate a port authority. Niger relies on the port atCotonou (Benin), and to a lesser degreeLomé (Togo), andPort Harcourt (Nigeria), as its main route to overseas trade.Abidjan was in the process of regaining Niger's port trade, following the disruption of theIvorian Civil War, beginning in 1999.[6] Niger operates a Nigerien Ports Authority station, as well as customs and tax offices in a section of Cotonou's port, so that imports and exports can be directly transported betweenGaya and the port. French Uranium mines inArlit, which produce Niger's largest exports by value, travel through this port to France or the world market.
The US government estimated there were 27 airports and/or landing strips in Niger as of 2007.[7] Nine (9) of these had paved runways and 18 with unpaved landing strips. ICAO Codes for Niger are prefixed "DR".
Of the 9 Airports with pavedrunways, 2 with paved strips from 2,438 to 3,047 m:Diori Hamani International Airport andMano Dayak International Airport. These are the only two Nigerien airports with regular international commercial flights. Six of the remainder have strips between 1,524 and 2,437 m, while one is under 914 m. 18 additional airports have unpaved runways 15 of them with strips between 914 and 1,523 m.
Major airports (withICAO code andIATA code) include:[8]
Other airstrips (withICAO codes) include:[9]
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There are no operational railways in Niger.
Niger is a user of the Benin and Togo railway lines, which carry goods from seaports up to their endpoints, which are still hundreds of kilometers from the Niger border. Rail lines toNiamey and other points in Niger were proposed during the colonial period, and continue to be discussed. In 2012, a multi-national railway system was proposed to connectBenin,Niger,Burkina Faso andIvory Coast.[10]
In April 2014,Niamey Railway Station[11][12] was officially inaugurated and construction began for the railway extension connectingNiamey toCotonou viaParakou (Benin).[13][14] TheNiamey -Dosso stretch of this railway was built between 2014 and 2016 by the FrenchBolloré conglomerate. But competing commercial interests by several parties resulted in endless litigation and the connection to Benin never materialized. So the 145 km Niamey-Dosso stretch now lies orphaned and unused, with the tracks ending in the middle of nowhere some 6 km south of Dosso. Already in 2019, neglect caused the tracks to be damaged to such an extent in some places (mostly by rain/water), that they have become unusable.[15][16][17][18] At the Niamey Terminus Station, the rails are kinked to such an extent by the summer heat that the train would not be able to leave the station (see image).
A rail connection fromMaradi intoNigeria is being considered.
Media related toTransport in Niger at Wikimedia Commons
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