The Republic of Niger covers 1.27 million square kilometers (489,000 square miles) of arid and semi-arid territory in West Africa, spanning the transition zone from the Sahara Desert to the Southern savannas. Most of the landlocked country's huge northern region is a sandy and rocky desert, sparsely populated by semi-nomadic populations. The bulk of the 11 million Nigeriens reside in the southern strip, where agriculture is possible during the mid-year four-month rainy season.

Niger's economy is essentially rural, a definition that includes a sizable group of pastoralists. Subsistence farming dominates agricultural activities, but the country exports considerable quantities of hides and skins to surrounding countries, along with livestock, cowpeas, and onions. The majority of the urban population is employed in the informal economy, with the formal sector being made up of a small civil service body and a nascent private sector.

Infrastructures are notoriously inadequate not only to sustain economic activities...