:Niger Economy
Overview:
About 90% of the population is engaged in farming and stock raising,
activities that generate almost half the national income. The economy also
depends heavily on exploitation of large uranium deposits. Uranium
production grew rapidly in the mid-1970s, but tapered off in the early 1980s
when world prices declined. France is a major customer, while Germany,
Japan, and Spain also make regular purchases. The depressed demand for
uranium has contributed to an overall sluggishness in the economy, a severe
trade imbalance, and a mounting external debt.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $2.4 billion, per capita $300; real growth rate
-3.4% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $220 million; expenditures $446 million, including capital
expenditures of $190 million (FY89 est.)
Exports:
$320 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
uranium 75%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions
partners:
France 65%, Nigeria 11%, Ivory Coast, Italy
Imports:
$439 million (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
petroleum products, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts,
electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, cereals,
foodstuffs
partners:
France 32%, Ivory Coast 11%, Germany 5%, Italy 4%, Nigeria 4%
External debt:
$1.8 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 0% (1989); accounts for 18% of GDP
Electricity:
105,000 kW capacity; 230 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses, and a
few other small light industries; uranium production began in 1971
Agriculture:
accounts for roughly 40% of GDP and 90% of labor force; cash crops -
cowpeas, cotton, peanuts; food crops - millet, sorghum, cassava, rice;
livestock - cattle, sheep, goats; self-sufficient in food except in drought
years
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $380 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3,165 million; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $504 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $61
million
Currency:
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural - francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF)
= 100 centimes
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 269.01 (January
1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54
(1987)
:Niger Economy
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September
:Niger Communications
Highways:
39,970 km total; 3,170 km bituminous, 10,330 km gravel and laterite, 3,470
km earthen, 23,000 km tracks
Inland waterways:
Niger River is navigable 300 km from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin frontier
from mid-December through March
Civil air:
2 major transport aircraft
Airports:
29 total, 27 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways
over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
small system of wire, radiocommunications, and radio relay links
concentrated in southwestern area; 14,260 telephones; broadcast stations -
15 AM, 5 FM, 18 TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1
Indian Ocean INTELSAT, and 3 domestic, with 1 planned
:Niger Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Republican National Guard, National police
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 1,724,293; 928,177 fit for military service; 83,528 reach
military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $27 million, 1.3% of GDP (1989)
:Nigeria Geography
Total area:
923,770 km2
Land area:
910,770 km2
Comparative area:
slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:
4,047 km total; Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km
Coastline:
853 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
30 nm
Disputes:
demarcation of international boundaries in Lake Chad, the lack of which has
led to border incidents in the past, is completed and awaiting ratification
by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; boundary commission created with
Cameroon to discuss unresolved land and maritime boundaries - has not yet
convened
Climate:
varies - equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north
Terrain:
southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in
southeast, plains in north
Natural resources:
crude oil, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, natural
gas
Land use:
arable land 31%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures 23%; forest and
woodland 15%; other 28%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
recent droughts in north severely affecting marginal agricultural
activities; desertification; soil degradation, rapid deforestation