Building productive capacity: a key to increasing trade integration for Niger

KEY RESULTS

• Country ownership: the Government of Niger is co-funding most Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) projects, which demonstrates a strong ownership and commitment to trade.
• Supporting key sectors: 
  • The EIF has supported the Government of Niger in upgrading its leather and skins sector. A further EUR 5 million in additional funding from the European Union (EU) has been secured to sustain the achievements of the EIF project in this sector.
  • Support for sesame production has helped transform this once-fragmented sector into a vibrant business area, featuring a functional association (Sesame Professional Association), marketing counters and warehouses for its members. The sector grew by 11% between 2019 and 2022.

Niger is a landlocked country of some 26 million people, located in the heart of the Sahel. It is surrounded by Algeria and Libya to the north, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, and Burkina Faso and Mali to the west. This geographical position makes it vulnerable to instability in any of these countries, but also constitutes a strategic location to promote beneficial links between countries to the north and south. 

The EIF partnership with the Government of Niger began in 2005 with a Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) undertaken by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The DTIS was adopted in 2010 by the Council of Ministers, following an extensive consultative process involving multiple stakeholders in government, development partners, the public and private sectors and civil society. The DTIS highlighted development priorities for Niger, particularly the need to integrate trade into the country’s development strategies and the regional and global trading system. The subsequent 2015 DTIS Update notes: "Niger's geographical position, landlocked and on the periphery of a region with multiple geopolitical and economic constraints, makes trade facilitation the key to the country's commercial integration - and beyond that, to its growth and development."

Capacity building as a key to unlocking the potential of trade 

EIF support initially focused on the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where a National Implementation Unit (NIU) was established within that ministry, specifically in the Directorate of Foreign Trade and Economic Partnerships. The NIU is now an integral part of the government institutional framework and forms a key part in bringing together stakeholders and sectoral ministries (from economy and finance, agriculture and livestock, trade and industry, tourism and crafts, and others) to provide guidance to the operations of the EIF programme in Niger. The NIU also facilitated the process of mainstreaming trade into national development plans and formulating specific sector strategies and policies to improve the trade environment in Niger.  

The EIF supported workshops to build institutional capacity on trade agreements, trade-related formalities, investment incentive mechanisms, customs and mining codes, as well as challenges and opportunities of the AfCFTA for over 1,500 participants from the Government, the private sector and civil society. Strengthening skills was needed to support specific interventions developed by the Government in its efforts to reinforce and promote the trade competitiveness of Niger, both regionally and internationally. This was also required to help diversify and build resilience in the country’s agricultural sector, which accounted for 41.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022. 

Another crucial part of the support was to effectively integrate trade into Niger’s 2012-2015 Economic and Social Development Plan and into the Sustainable Development of Tourism and the Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth Strategy (SDDCI) Niger 2035. The SDDCI emphasizes that boosting the resilience of the agricultural sector, coupled with structural transformation of rural areas, will increase incomes and reduce the vulnerabilities of rural households to climatic shocks. 

Increasing leather and skins exports

The DTIS Update 2015 identified the hides and skins sector as having the potential to boost Niger’s exports and trade. Niger has an extensive and diverse herd of cattle, sheep and red Maradi goats, which are prized for their skins. The global demand for hides is consistent and increasing, making this sector a potential large income earner for the country. The EIF has supported several projects in Niger’s eight regions to improve the competitiveness of the hides and skins sector.

Niger has been trading in hides and skins for more than 50 years, but the sector was performing well below its potential due to traditional methods used in the collection, treatment and preservation of products. The EIF is helping Niger take advantage of the potential that lies in the hides and skins sector by strengthening Niger’s tanneries and supporting the upgrade of the Niger Leather and Art Trades Centre, resulting in significant improvements to the environment through better waste management techniques. Export earnings for this sector more than doubled from around USD 534 000 in 2010 to nearly USD 1.4 million in 2018.

Idrissa Yahaya, the Coordinator of the NIU in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, credits the EIF with helping the Government of Niger to commercialize the whole hides and skins sector, improving product quality and enhancing competitiveness in regional and international markets. He believes the training of 600 people in the production of hides and skins, with an emphasis on eco-friendly tanning techniques, is "allowing citizens to share in the proceeds of their country’s development". 

Women like Zouha Mohammed, who received skills training on different aspects of handling leather and manufacturing leather products, were also provided with sewing machines, wheelbarrows, boots and other equipment they needed to start their businesses. Ms Mohammed receives up to 35,000 CFA (West African) francs (about USD 58) for one of her bags. Several women’s cooperatives are now making products intended for the export market. With the support of the EIF, Niger facilitated several exploratory missions for businesses to countries like China and India. 

Supporting women and young entrepreneurs

The EIF has provided targeted support to promote the involvement of women and youth in the country’s economic activities. This support included the training of 40 women entrepreneurs from the country’s eight regions on cross-border trade and trade facilitation. Most women entrepreneurs in Niger are cross-border traders but were failing to reap the full benefits of their activities due to a lack of understanding of trade rules and poor business management skills. In addition, 45 bakers, butchers, female agricultural processors and restaurateurs received training on hygiene and quality standards.

Investing in the sesame value chain

Niger’s harsh climate, like that of its west African Sahelian neighbours, makes it challenging to grow several crops due to the dry and hot weather and poor rainfall patterns, which are further exacerbated by climate change. Sesame holds much potential for the country’s economic development because of its resilience to these adverse weather conditions. With EIF support, the Government is working with small producers in the sesame sector, organizing it into a functional, dynamic and representative inter‑professional association. Sesame producers have been provided with improved seed-processing technologies and biodegradable packaging to improve the competitiveness of their products. E-commerce has, moreover, been an innovative catalyst in this sector, helping producers link their businesses to domestic and regional markets in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria. Support for this sector has recorded several key achievements, including an 11% increase in national production of sesame oil between 2019 and 2022. According to Yahaya:

Six regional dialogue frameworks for the sesame actors were established. More than 450 people, including 43 women, have been trained in good agricultural practices, e-commerce and international trade rules, as well as cooperative management, while 30 women producers have been trained in marketing. At the same time, 360 producers, including 78 women, are using a highly productive seed variety that is resilient to climate shocks, while 432 producers, 182 of whom are women, have been trained through the establishment of training fields. Production in this sector has exceeded expectations, with a total production of 25,000 tons against a target of 10,000 tons and export revenue of USD 36.6 million against a target of USD 6.5 million.

Consolidating achievements of the programme

Through the post-sustainability support and the Interim Facility projects, the EIF has been supporting several ongoing initiatives in Niger to consolidate and sustain achievements made so far. Specifically, the projects have continued improving the business environment to foster domestic, regional and international trade. The trade coordination functions of the NIU and monitoring of the impact and sustainability of past EIF projects are ongoing. Bankable projects to strengthen support to key value chains in Niger, including sesame and hides and skins, are being developed and roundtables with donors and development partners are planned. More than 120 national stakeholders will see their capacities reinforced in areas such as Incoterms, e-commerce, business plan elaboration or transport and transit. 

Niger has also benefited from several EIF regional projects, including (i) the transit, transport and trade facilitation in West Africa project implemented by UNCTAD; (ii) the AfCFTA operationalization support project implemented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; and (iii) the project to strengthen investment promotion in Francophone least developed countries (LDCs) implemented by the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies.

Yahaya attributes the improvement in Niger’s business environment and sustainable growth to the EIF’s uniqueness as: