World Bank Restores Aid to Niger

Major Salou Djibo - Junta Making a huge Impact

A decision has been made by the World Bank to restore financial assistance to Niger. Assistance to the African country had been suspended following a February coup. The military government says the aid will help fight hunger in a country where 60 percent of people are facing severe food shortages. In a letter to military ruler Major Salou Djibo, the World Bank regional director, Madani Tall, said the resumption of $40 million in budgetary assistance comes with it the expectation that the social, economic, and political situation in Niger will be explained to give the national and international community a better understanding of the way forward.

Soldiers took power in a February coup against President Mamadou Tandja, who had grown increasing unpopular since using a constitutional referendum to extend his time in office and sacking both lawmakers and judges who opposed him. The junta has since vowed to restore Niger to civilian rule within one year. Spokesman, Mahaman Laouali Dandah, welcomed the resumption of World Bank assistance. He said that the World Bank has always been there for Niger to help in the fight against poverty and the creation of sustainable socio-economic development.

He went on to say that it is a decision that everyone in Niger appreciates, and it underlines the efforts of the ruling military council and the government to resolve political differences and restore Niger’s place in the international community. According to Dandah, the resumption of World Bank assistance will help more than seven million people who need food assistance because of last year’s poor rains. He also said that it is clear that food security is not forgotten as the World Bank provides assistance across many sectors including the exportation of food and livestock products, the promotion of private sector irrigation and the financial sector. This supports the fight against food insecurity.

This crisis affects more people than the last food shortages in 2005, but UN aid chief John Holmes says the country is better prepared, in part because of better cooperation. The Military Junta is extremely popular in the country as they are seen as liberators of the people from the tyrannical rule of former president Mamadou Tandja.

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