Abstract
Niger is a small nation, typical of the interior of the West African Sahel. By any measure it is among the world’s poorest economies, due in part to its location, nearly a thousand miles from a sea-port, off any of modern West Africa’s major trade and transportation routes, and to its harsh environment. Geographically most of Niger lies in the Saharan region, so arid that it is totally unsuitable for agriculture or even for nomadic pastoralism. What little interest Niger has claimed in the past has derived from three facts: (i) its strategic location during the era of French colonialism and the Cold War; (ii) its role, since the late 1960s as one of the world’s leading exporters of uranium ore, strengthening its importance to the French nuclear power and arms industries; (iii) and, to a much smaller degree, its agricultural potential to feed its population and export grain and livestock to the region, dependent on a small strip of its territory located in the Sahelian climatic zone, and on sufficient rainfall.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adda, J. and M-C. Smouts (1989), La France face au Sud; le Mirroir Brisé ( Paris: Karhala).
Africa Contempory Record 1981–82 (New York: Africana, 1982).
Bayard, Jean-Francois (1984), La Politique africaine de François Mitterrand (Paris).
Casteran, (1990), ‘Les Français et l’Afrique’, Jeune Afrique, 1538 (20 June): 16–20.
Charlick, Robert (1991a), ‘Africa in the Lurch? EC and Member States Commitments to a Poor Francophone African Nation (Niger)’, unpublished paper presented at the European Community Studies Association (May).
Charlick, Robert (199lb), Niger: Personal Rule and Survival in the Sahel Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991.
Chipman, John (1989), French Power in Africa ( Oxford: Basil Blackwell).
Commission for the European Communities (EC) (1992), From Lomé III to Lomé IV: Review of AID From the Lomé Convention at the End of 1990 ( Brussels: Commission of the European Communities ): 36.
Dorce, Frederic (1992), ‘Afrique: Une marche rentable’, Jeune Afrique (13 August 1992): 130–46.
Gervais, Myriam (1991), ‘Les enjeux de la desetatisation au Niger dans le cadre des programmes d’adjustment structurel’, unpublished paper.
Hessel, Stephen (1990), ‘Les relations de la France avec les pays en développement’, unpublished report for the Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of France (February).
Higgott, Richard (1979), ‘Colonial Origins and Environmental Influences on the Foreign Relations of a West African Land-Locked State: The Case of Niger’, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Birmingham.
Higgott, Richard (1980), ‘Structural Dependence and Decolonisation in a West African Land-Locked State: Niger’, Review of African Political Economy: 17 (January—April):387–8.
Higgott, Richard and Fin Fuglestad (1975), ‘The 1974 Coup d’Etat in Niger: Toward an Explanation’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 13, 3: 383–98.
International Development Association (1986), ‘Niger: Structural Adjustment Program’ (Washington: IDA, 23 January).
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (1992), ‘Niger—Staff Report for 1992 Article IV Consultation’, (Washington: IMF, 4 June).
Jeune Afrique 13 May 1992.
Martin, Guy (1989), ‘Uranium — A Case Study in Franco-African Relations’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 27, 4: 625–40.
Niandou Souley, Abdoulaye (1991), ‘Adjustement structurel et effondrement des modeles idéologiques: Crise et renouveau de l’Etat africain’, Revue Etudes Internationales, 22, 2 (June): 253–65.
Niandou Souley, Abdoulaye (1992), ‘Economic Crisis and Democratization in Africa’, unpublished paper for the Symposium of Ibadan (15–19 June).
Ravenhill John (1985), Collective Clientelism: The Lomé Convention and North—South Relations ( New York: Columbia University Press).
Republic of France (1991), ‘Report to the OECD — Development Assistance Committee,’ (Paris).
République de Niger (1987), La Charte Nationale (Niamey: Journal Officiel, Imprimerie National du Niger).
République de Niger (1992), Project de Constitution de la Troisième République (Niamey:).
Robinson, Pearl (1984), ‘Playing the Arab Card: Niger and Chad’s Ambivalent Relations with Libya’, in Bruce Arlinghaus (ed.), African Security Issues ( Boulder, CO: Westview ): 171–84.
Staniland, Martin (1987), ‘Francophone Africa: The Enduring French Connection’, in Gerald J. Bender (ed.), Special Issue on International Affairs in Africa, The Annals, 489 (January): 51–62
van de Walle, Nicolas, (1991), ‘The Decline of the Franc Zone: Monetary Politics in Francophone Africa’, African Affairs, 90: 383–405.
World Bank (1990), ‘Report and Recommendation of the President of the IBRD and the IDA on the Proposed Grant of up to $10 Million for a Debt Reduction Program of the Republic of Niger’ ( Washington: World Bank).
World Bank (1989), World Development Report 1989 ( New York: OUP, 1989 ).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1994 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Charlick, R.B. (1994). Niger. In: Shaw, T.M., Okolo, J.E. (eds) The Political Economy of Foreign Policy in ECOWAS. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23277-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23277-2_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-23279-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-23277-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)