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Niger’s military government has suspended the activities of 2,900 of the 4,700 registered local and foreign non-governmental organisations and development agencies operating in the country, the interior minister has announced.
General Mohamed Toumba, the interior minister, announced on state television on Tuesday evening that the number of approved NGOs has been reduced from 4,700 to 1,800.
“We had 4,700 NGOs. Today, we have 1,800,” Toumba said.
He explained that the suspensions were part of a “clean-up” and that “clear missions have been assigned” to NGOs, which must now “align themselves with national development priorities.”
More than 330 international NGOs were registered in Niger, but the number of those affected by the suspensions was not specified.
The junta led by General Abdourahmane Tiani, since July 2023, has made national sovereignty one of its priorities.
The military government regularly accuses NGOs of lacking transparency and of supporting “terrorists” – armed groups destabilising several parts of the country.
Last year, authorities banned several local and international NGOs, criticising them for failing to publish their 2024 financial statements on time in the official gazette.
According to official figures, NGOs and associations raised more than 250 billion CFA francs ($448 million) in 2024.
Niger’s neighbour and ally, Burkina Faso, also under military rule, last week dissolved more than 100 NGOs and associations, many of them involved in human rights defence, and banned them from operating.
Burkina Faso last year adopted a law that subjects associations to strict administrative obligations.
