Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** This article examines the deepening economic ties between Niger and China, highlighting the growing presence of Chinese goods in Niamey’s markets and the impact on local traders.
At the Grand Market of Niamey, or “Habou Béné,” the sun is still strong in this December month. Elhadj Abibou, a wholesale trader importing Chinese jewelry, is in the middle of a discussion with a customer. Alkeyrou, his neighbor, also a seller of Chinese household appliances, sits in front of his shop, watching for a potential customer. A few meters away, Issaka’s shop offers Chinese clothing to its customers.
Today, several hundred Nigerian wholesale traders work in the trade of goods between China and Niger.
The most popular merchandise includes hardware, household appliances, clothing, construction materials (pipes, tiles), and jewelry.
According to Elhadj Abibou, the Chinese cities most frequented by traders are mainly Guangzhou and Yiwu, and occasionally Shanghai. Goods arrive by ship via the ports of Cotonou (Benin), Lomé (Togo), and Tema (Ghana), or directly at Niamey International Airport by air freight.
The Nigerian citizen has now become a major consumer of Chinese products, which they find “well-made and affordable for all budgets.”
“The economic and trade cooperation relations between Niger and China are quite dynamic,” according to the Nigerian Ministry of Commerce. These were formalized on July 2, 1974, with the signing of a General Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the two countries.
To strengthen these cooperative ties, a Niger-China Joint Cooperation Commission was established. It held its first meeting in July 2000.
Both parties have agreed to mutually grant each other most-favored-nation treatment regarding customs duties and other taxes and charges on goods for import, export, and re-export.
According to the National Director of Foreign Trade and Economic Partnership, Mr. Karidio Hamadou,
Added to this are the additional market access commitments made by China during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to grant zero tariff treatment to products originating from the least developed African countries. “As for Niger, China has already implemented this commitment,” Mr. Karidio specified.
Thanks to joint efforts on both sides, this economic and trade cooperation has achieved notable successes in recent years, making a considerable contribution to Niger’s socio-economic development.
Since 2012, this cooperation has been further strengthened by new opportunities, particularly in the energy and mining sectors, trade, investment, and infrastructure.
However, the Director of Foreign Trade emphasized,
In the commercial sector, China is now Niger’s second-largest partner. The volume of Sino-Nigerian trade in 2014 reached $318 million, showing a growth of 59.38% compared to 2013, according to the Chinese Embassy in Niger.
Nigerien products exported or re-exported to China, Mr. Karidio Hamadou specified, are mainly uranium or thorium ores and their concentrates, as well as agricultural products (sesame, gum arabic, hides and skins). Most agricultural products exported by Niger to China pass through unofficial channels, particularly via Nigeria.
In return, Niger imports from China machinery and other equipment, bulldozers, graders, scrapers, loaders, rollers, automobiles, household appliances, telephones, transmitters, and receivers.