Non-performing loans made up 23.6% of gross lending by Niger's banks and financial institutions at the end of September, down from 28.5% a year earlier, the regional central bank BCEAO said in its monthly statistics bulletin published November 6. Gross bad loans fell to 321.99bn FCFA (€491mn) from 398.79bn FCFA (€608mn). The ratio for the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) as a whole was 10.3%.
Analysis: Niger's ratio fell 4.9 points in a year but remains more than twice the union's 10.3% and above Guinea-Bissau's 21.0%, the next highest. The stock of bad loans shrank 19.3% while gross lending slipped 2.5% to 1,365bn FCFA (€2.08bn), by our calculation. The lower ratio therefore reflects fewer bad loans, not more credit. However, the bulletin does not say whether repayments, recoveries or write-offs drove the fall. BCEAO's bulletin for October, expected in early December, will show whether the decline continues.
Source: BCEAO, BCEAO, Bulletin mensuel des statistiques, septembre 2026, September 2026 and September 2025
The average interest rate charged by banks in Niger rose to 8.97% in September from 8.20% in August, the regional central bank BCEAO said in its monthly statistics bulletin published November 6. That was the highest of the eight West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries, against a union average of 6.74% on new loans. Companies paid 8.30% on average and households 9.86%.
Analysis: Niger's rate was 2.2 points above the union average and 0.9 points above Guinea-Bissau's 8.06%, the next highest, by our calculation. Monthly averages swing with the mix of loans granted. However, the gap with the rest of the union is wide. Banks paid depositors 6.57% on average, leaving a 2.4-point spread. High lending rates are consistent with a banking system in which nearly a quarter of loans are non-performing, as the same bulletin shows, though BCEAO does not link the two. October rates are due in BCEAO's next bulletin, expected in early December.
Source: BCEAO, BCEAO, Bulletin mensuel des statistiques, septembre 2026, September 2026
A 45-kg sack of Agadez onions sold for 34,000 FCFA (€51.8) on Niamey's wholesale markets in early November, against 15,000 FCFA (€22.9) a year earlier, the national network of chambers of agriculture RECA said, as reported by state news agency ANP on November 5. A 47-kg sack of Nigerian onions sold for 30,000 FCFA (€45.7), as did newly arrived Algerian onions. RECA attributed the rise to late sowing in Agadez.
Analysis: Agadez onions cost 127% more than a year earlier, by our calculation, and RECA says prices have climbed since early September while supply stays thin. Retailers pay more too: a trader who buys at Niamey's Dolé market pays 33,000 FCFA (€50.3) for a 50-kg sack, state daily Le Sahel reported, citing prices on November 3. Onions are also an export crop: recorded exports more than doubled to 28,981 metric tons in the first quarter, statistics agency INS data show. The delayed Agadez harvest should decide when prices ease. No date has been set.
Source: ANP (state news agency), ANP (Agence Nigérienne de Presse), Abdourahamane Salifou, November 5, 2026, citing RECA, Early November 2026 and Early November 2025; Office National d'Édition et de Presse (state daily), Le Sahel (ONEP), 'Panier de la ménagère: fluctuation des prix de certains légumes au Petit Marché de Niamey', November 6, 2026, November 3, 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, Bulletin des statistiques du commerce extérieur, 1er trimestre 2026 (N°02, mai 2026), Q1 2026
Niger's food prices were 10% to 32% below their five-year average in October, while livestock prices on major markets stayed 20% above it, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said in its outlook for October 2026 to May 2027. New harvests drove the seasonal price declines, the food security monitoring network said on October 30.
Analysis: Official data point the same way. Statistics institute INS recorded cereals 6.3% cheaper and fresh meat 11.1% more expensive than a year earlier in September. Cheap grain helps millers and feed makers. Meanwhile, meat buyers pay more. FEWS NET expects the gap to narrow because this season's crop and pasture output is below average. Stocks should run out early, pushing food prices above the five-year average from January 2027, it said. The network also assumes that Niger's border with Benin stays closed to May 2027. INS October prices, due November 10, should show whether cereal prices are still falling.
Source: Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), FEWS NET, Niger – Perspectives sur la sécurité alimentaire, octobre 2026 à mai 2027, October 2026 and 2025-2026 season and May 2027; Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), FEWS NET, Global Price Watch, October 2026 (published October 30, 2026), September-October 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, septembre 2026, September 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, calendrier des publications 2026, November 2026
Nigeria aims to commission the 284-kilometer Kano–Katsina section of the railway to Maradi in Niger in December, after physical progress passed 75% in late August, Nigeria's information ministry said. Contractor Mota-Engil expects to complete the Katsina–Maradi extension into Niger by the end of 2027, its chief financial officer said, according to the ministry.
Analysis: The Nigerian section opens first. Traders in Niger will not have a rail link until the Katsina–Maradi extension is finished, about a year after the December target for Kano–Katsina, by our calculation. The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development approved $100mn on September 28 for rolling stock and operating equipment, ThisDay reported, so financing for the trains is in place. A rail outlet through Nigeria matters to importers because food security monitor FEWS NET assumes that Niger's border with Benin stays closed to May 2027. Niger created a national rail company, SNTR, on October 29. Nigeria's transport ministry has given December as the commissioning month, without a published day.
Source: Federal Government of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation (Nigeria), 'Kano-Katsina rail project over 75% complete, FG reaffirms December 2026 commissioning' (August 27, 2026), August 2026; Federal Government of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation (Nigeria), release of August 27, 2026, December 2026; NotreAfrik, NotreAfrik (October 8, 2026), end-2027; NotreAfrik, NotreAfrik, 'Kano–Maradi : 100 millions $ de la BIDC pour les trains' (October 8, 2026), September 2026; ThisDay, ThisDay, 'EBID Approves $100m for Kano-Maradi Rail Project' (October 1, 2026), September 2026; Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), FEWS NET, Niger – Perspectives sur la sécurité alimentaire, octobre 2026 à mai 2027, May 2027; Nigerinter (private online press), republishing the Secrétariat général du Gouvernement, Communiqué du Conseil des ministres du jeudi 29 octobre 2026 (as republished by Nigerinter), October 2026
Chart of the week
Niger millet price, FCFA per 100-kg sack, national average, INS, September 2025–September 2026
National average consumer price of a 100-kg sack of millet, Niger's main staple, from the monthly consumer price bulletins of statistics institute INS. Prices typically peak in the lean season before the harvest: the 2026 high was 24,781 FCFA (€37.8) in July. September, the latest month shown, was 21,964 FCFA (€33.5).. Source: Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, septembre 2025 (base 100 en 2023), September 2025; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, octobre 2025 (base 100 en 2023), October 2025; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, novembre 2025 (base 100 en 2023), November 2025; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, décembre 2025 (base 100 en 2023), December 2025; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, février 2026 (base 100 en 2023), January 2026 and February 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, mars 2026 (base 100 en 2023), March 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, avril 2026 (base 100 en 2023), April 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, mai 2026 (base 100 en 2023), May 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, juin 2026 (base 100 en 2023), June 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, août 2026, July 2026; Institut National de la Statistique (INS) du Niger, INS Niger, IHPC National, septembre 2026, August 2026 and September 2026.
Tender of the week
Lifting and handling equipment and a backhoe loader for the water utility (two lots)
Buyer
Nigérienne des Eaux (NDE), the state water utility
Scope
Supply of lifting and handling equipment (lot 1) and a backhoe loader (lot 2); open tender under the national public procurement code; bidding documents can be read free on site or bought for 100,000 FCFA.
Value
Not published
Funding
NDE 2026 budget (own funds)
Closes
Friday, November 20, 2026
Alama Pro members get the link to the official notice for this and every other tender.
In Alama Pro this week
Deep dive: Niger must refinance 540bn FCFA of regional debt in 2027
10 stories with workings, from bank loans and Treasury debt to food prices, the Kano rail link, fuel supply and uranium
Four key figures, from inflation and millet prices to crude export earnings and imports, and every open tender in our records
Euro equivalents use the fixed parity of 655.957 FCFA per euro. Every figure comes from the official source named under it. Spotted an error? Write to info@alamareport.com; corrections run in the next issue.
