Three years after the coup, Niger remains mired in instability.

On July 26, 2023, General Abdourahamane Tchiani overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and promised a three-year transition. At the end of this period, neither security nor the economy had improved as promised.

Three years after the military junta seized power in Niger, the situation is dire. General Tchiani justified the coup by citing the deteriorating security situation, despite the international support enjoyed by the ousted government. But jihadist violence has intensified since then, particularly in the Tillabéry region in the southwest of the country.

According to the conflict monitoring organization ACLED, the Tillabéry region remains the main hotspot of clashes between two rival Islamist groups: Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Sahel province. These battles claimed nearly 1,200 lives in the region in 2025 alone. On July 17, an attack killed at least 16 soldiers and 15 fighters, according to the Nigerien state news agency ANP. "The situation in Niger has worsened, particularly in the Tillabéry region, where the death toll is highest in the central Sahel," summarizes Heni Nsaibia, an analyst at ACLED.

On the ground, residents describe a deterioration in their daily lives. A resident of Téra, a city of 30,000 people, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Today, attacks against the armed forces and the civilian population are far more frequent and violent than they were three years ago.” He mentioned weekly markets that have stopped operating, entire villages that have been abandoned, and schools that have closed. Displaced people are living in makeshift shelters, without reliable drinking water or stable resources.

On the economic front, Tahirou Garka, spokesperson for the G25, a movement advocating a return to constitutional order, paints a picture of failure: "They have failed economically and socially. People are struggling to find drinking water; there is no water, no electricity, no fuel." Two days after the coup, General Tchiani had nevertheless announced his intention to fight corruption and revive the economy.

The analysis is not unanimous. Hamani Oumarou, a researcher at LASDEL, a social science institute based in Niamey, believes that the socioeconomic situation has improved for a large part of the population, particularly low-income households. However, he qualifies this observation by pointing out that Niger has to import food at certain times of the year, which causes significant price increases. Among young people, opinions also differ: some, like Fadila, perceive a gradual stabilization, while others remain uncertain.

On the regional stage, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 2023 to form the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS), which has moved closer to Russia while distancing itself from Western partners. However, a possible thaw is emerging: the recent election of former Guinean Prime Minister Lansana Kouyaté as ECOWAS's chief negotiator is seen as a positive sign by expert Pape Ibrahima Kane. "We are at the beginning of a promising process; both sides are truly on the same page to begin discussions," he stated. The stakes are high for Niamey: the country depends on access to the port of Benin and its electricity supply from Nigeria and Benin, both ECOWAS members.