Niamey, Niger – In a sweeping move that has sent shockwaves through the international humanitarian community, the military junta ruling Niger has suspended the operations of hundreds of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), rights groups, and aid agencies. Authorities confirmed the decision to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, November 20, 2025, framing it as a necessary step to enhance transparency and curb alleged subversive activities amid the country's protracted battle against jihadist insurgents. This latest escalation marks the regime's most aggressive action yet against civil society, building on a pattern of restrictions that have severely hampered aid delivery in one of the world's most vulnerable nations.
The suspensions affect an unspecified number of the 4,122 NGOs and development associations registered in Niger, of which 332 are foreign entities. According to official government figures, these organizations collectively mobilized more than 250 billion CFA francs—equivalent to approximately $440 million—in 2024 alone, funding critical programs in health, education, food security, and refugee support. The Interior Ministry, led by General Mohamed Toumba, authorized only about 100 groups to continue their work last week, citing failures to publish mandatory 2024 financial statements. The remaining entities have been given a 60-day grace period to comply, after which non-compliance could lead to permanent bans.
"This is not a blanket ban but a targeted enforcement of accountability," a ministry spokesperson told reporters in Niamey. However, humanitarian experts warn that the move could exacerbate Niger's dire needs, where over 4.7 million people—more than a quarter of the population—face acute food insecurity due to conflict, climate shocks, and economic fallout from the 2023 coup. "In a country where jihadist violence has displaced 400,000 people and killed thousands, restricting NGOs risks leaving vulnerable communities without lifelines," said a representative from the International Rescue Committee, which operates limited programs in safer zones.
The junta's actions trace back to its seizure of power on July 26, 2023, when General Abdourahamane Tchiani, then head of the presidential guard, ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in a bloodless coup. Since then, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) has positioned itself as a bulwark against corruption, foreign interference, and terrorism. Yet, critics, including Human Rights Watch, argue that the regime's "Niger-first" agenda has morphed into authoritarian overreach, with arbitrary detentions of opposition figures, media censorship, and now this NGO purge.
General Toumba laid the groundwork for the suspensions in late January 2025, announcing "important measures to ensure the monitoring and supervision of NGOs and development organizations." During that address, he accused many groups of colluding with "partners who bring us war through subversion missions... through the support they often provide to terrorists." This rhetoric echoes longstanding junta claims that Western-backed NGOs serve as conduits for intelligence gathering or indirect financing of groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), which have intensified attacks in Niger's Tillabéri and Diffa regions.
The January decree was followed by a February 2025 order expelling the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a neutral humanitarian giant present in Niger since 1990. The ICRC, which provided medical aid to thousands displaced by violence, was accused of opaque operations tied to European Union funding—allegations it vehemently denied. "This expulsion, without justification, violates international humanitarian law and leaves a gaping hole in emergency response," an ICRC spokesperson stated at the time. Earlier, in November 2024, the French NGO ACTED and local partner Action pour le Bien-Être (APBE) had their licenses revoked amid similar transparency probes, further straining Franco-Nigerien ties.
Niger's NGO sector, once a lifeline in a nation ranked 189th out of 193 on the UN's Human Development Index, now operates under a February 2025 decree mandating alignment with the junta's "strategic vision." A new oversight committee, comprising regime loyalists, scrutinizes annual reports and project proposals to ensure they do not "undermine national sovereignty." Violators face dissolution, asset seizures, or criminal charges. "The pace has changed; NGOs must work in the spirit of the new Nigerien authorities," Toumba warned in a public statement.
This crackdown unfolds against a backdrop of escalating security threats. The Sahel's jihadist insurgency, which claimed over 1,700 lives in Niger in 2024 alone, has turned the southeastern Diffa region into a hotspot. Bordering Nigeria and Chad, Diffa has seen cross-border raids by Boko Haram affiliates, displacing 200,000 residents and crippling agriculture. The junta's pivot away from Western partners—expelling 1,500 French troops in December 2023 and 1,000 U.S. personnel in 2024—has left a counterterrorism vacuum, analysts say. In their place, Russian Wagner mercenaries (now rebranded as Africa Corps) and Turkish drones have bolstered Niger's arsenal, but reports of civilian casualties from indiscriminate strikes have surged.
On Thursday, November 20, 2025—the same day the NGO suspensions were confirmed—General Tchiani visited military bases in Diffa, where he delivered a fiery speech to troops. "This war we are waging is a total war, initiated by France and its leader Emmanuel Macron," he declared, accusing Paris of orchestrating destabilization through proxies, including NGOs and regional allies like Benin and Nigeria. Tchiani's address, broadcast on state television, galvanized soldiers amid reports of a recent ISGS ambush that killed 15 Nigerien troops. "France has decided to deliver war to us, using our own brothers against essential infrastructure," he added, reviving unsubstantiated claims from June 2025 about French funding for rebel networks.
These accusations are part of a broader anti-colonial narrative that has bolstered the junta's domestic popularity. Since the coup, Tchiani's regime has expelled the French and EU ambassadors, nationalized uranium mines previously dominated by French firm Orano, and forged the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with Burkina Faso and Mali—fellow junta-led nations—to counter ECOWAS sanctions. Trade with Russia has tripled, including arms deals worth $200 million, while Turkey supplies Bayraktar drones used in Diffa operations. Yet, economic woes persist: inflation hit 12% in 2025, and ECOWAS border closures have slashed exports by 40%, fueling protests in Niamey.
International reactions have been muted but concerned. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders called the suspensions "a chilling effect on civil society," urging compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. France dismissed Tchiani's Diffa speech as "baseless paranoia," while the U.S. State Department reiterated calls for Bazoum's release—the former president remains detained without trial in his residence. ECOWAS, which imposed sanctions post-coup, has hinted at easing them if elections are held by 2026, as vaguely promised by the junta.
For Niger's 26 million people, the stakes are existential. With 70% living in poverty and climate change ravaging the semi-arid north, NGOs have been indispensable. The suspensions could disrupt $100 million in annual aid, per estimates from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), potentially spiking malnutrition rates among children, already at 45% in Diffa. Local activists, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, decry the irony: "The junta fights terrorists with one hand while starving the innocent with the other."
As Tchiani's tour of Diffa continues, promising new barracks and agro-industrial hubs funded by Russian loans, questions linger about the regime's endgame. Will the 60-day compliance window restore NGO access, or signal a full pivot to state-controlled aid? In a nation where sovereignty clashes with survival, the answer may define Niger's fragile path forward.
