Niger’s Bridges to Resilience: Building a Stronger Future

Under the glow of solar streetlights, Aichatou Alkassoum marvels at the Djibo Bakary Bridge in Farié, Niger. “At night, it’s like a modern Niamey street,” she says, her voice bright with pride. A leader in Delewa’s School Management Committee, she calls it “the Bridge of Renewal.”

Previously, crossing the Niger River here meant hours waiting for a shaky ferry under a blazing sun. Since January 2021, this 640-meter bridge, part of the African Development Bank’s Trans-Saharan Road Project-TSRP, has cut travel time, linking Kourthèye and Gothèye with three km of paved roads and 180 solar lamps. Funded with $23 million from the Bank’s $125 million TSRP commitment, it’s a lifeline for trade across an enormous 9,022 km of land connecting the three countries of Niger to Algeria and Nigeria.

The African Development Bank’s $1.2 billion project in Niger fuels this change. In Maradi, Hachimou Abou Moussam a farmerm once planned to move to Niamey to flee a constant struggle. Then the Water Mobilization Project for Food Security - PMERSA-MTZ  ($13 million since 2011) gave him two wells, pumps, and irrigation pipes. “I grow niébé year-round now,” he says. Across Maradi, Tahoua, and Zinder, PMERSA-MTZ built 47 dams, 74 wells, and 273 km of rural tracks, irrigating 18,000 hectares. Crop yields jumped 94 percent, and Hachimou’s income rose by $680 yearly, rooting him home.

In Diffa, Arzika Assoumane, director of Kalmaharo Vocational School, credits the Vocational and Technical Education Support Project- PADEFPT, ($47 million since 2010). “We went from 300 students to over 1,000,” he beams. With 474 classrooms built nationwide, 21,000 students trained, and girls’ enrolment up from 2.2 percent to 8.4 percent by 2020, PADEFPT bridges skills to jobs. “The African Development Bank changed our lives,” Arzika says.

Imagine the transformative power of light. The Niger Rural, Peri-Urban, and Urban Electrification Project ($68 million since 2017) project, did not only expand the Gorou Banda power plant to 100 MW, a 25% increase in available capacity, but also forging connections to 68,400 families, exceeding the ambitious targets by 150%. Now, with the Desert to Power-Project for the Development of Solar Power Plants and Improvement of Access to Electricity ($131 million, since in 2022), Niger is taking a leap towards sustainable energy, adding 30 MW of renewable capacity and bringing the life-changing power of electricity to 800,000 people.

The Kandadji Ecosystems Program- PA-KRESMIN ($126 million since 2019) irrigates fields and powers 630,000 people. Together, these efforts, backed by $740 million disbursed, turn Niger’s land and people into strength. As Chief Amadou Boubacar notes, TSRP’s 16 classrooms and wells in Farié echo this: "Our market and health centre boost incomes.”

The Trans-Saharan Fiber Optic Project – TSB in Niger (43 million EUR since 2016) is laying over 1,000 km of high-speed fiber optic network linking Niger with Algeria, Nigeria, Tchad, Benin, and Burkina Faso. In Agadez, where high-speed connectivity was once a luxury, young entrepreneurs will be able to run online businesses from their smartphones.

It seems an age ago now when the internet was too slow to send a photo. Soon, farmers, small businesses, and artists from Arlit will take orders from Niamey, or even better, Algiers or Lagos. The project is transforming access to education, government services, and markets for thousands in previously disconnected regions. Beyond a cable, it is a pathway to opportunity, inclusion, and innovation in one of Africa’s growing economies.

Yet, with a $402 billion continental gap, more is needed. Aichatou dreams of wider bridges, literally and figuratively. The African Development Bank’s smart cash builds resilience, one bridge, one harvest, one optic fiber, and one classroom at a time.

Cover photo:  The Djibo Bakary Bridge in Farié, Niger, completed in January 2021, spans 640 meters and has significantly reduced travel time, saving hours compared to the former ferry, thereby boosting trade and connectivity along the Trans-Saharan Road Project corridor.