World Bank prepares $760 million more for Niger's energy, farming and water
The funding is added to more than $4 billion the World Bank already has committed in Niger, and is meant to support larger projects over the next five years.
Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine chaired a meeting at his office in Niamey on Thursday, 12 November 2026, with a World Bank delegation led by Vice President for West and Central Africa Ousmane Diagana. The bank said it has prepared about $760 million in additional funding for Niger under a new partnership framework, on top of more than $4 billion it already provides in the country.
Diagana said the money is meant to prepare bigger and more structuring operations over the next five years, drawing on lessons from earlier programmes to move faster and more efficiently. Talks covered three areas: making energy accessible and affordable to all Nigeriens, helping farmers move beyond food insecurity and create small and medium-sized enterprises, and water, which he said is needed for both electricity and farming.
On water, Niger and the bank have drawn up a pact that sets out urgent reforms, public investments and the frameworks needed to bring in private-sector money. Diagana said implementation of the pact on the energy side has already begun.
Why it mattersTraders, farmers and households will depend on whether the planned energy, farming and water reforms reach them over the next five years.