Niger river region
The Niger River, Africa’s third-longest river, plays a pivotal role in the socio-environmental and economic fabric of West and Central Africa. Originating in the Guinea Highlands, it flows through Mali, Niger, and Nigeria before reaching the Gulf of Guinea through the Niger Delta. The basin extends across approximately 2.2 million km², shared by up to 10 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. With a total length of 4,100 km, the river supports agriculture, irrigation, fisheries, navigation, livestock, hydropower generation, and water supply.
Mali, occupying much of the Upper Niger Basin, is highly dependent on the river for agriculture, fisheries, and hydropower. The country spans 1.24 million km² and has a population of 24.5 million (2024), with a GDP per capita of around USD 900. The economy remains primarily agrarian and vulnerable to drought and desertification.
Mali’s Energy Profile:
- Installed capacity (2021): 0.94 GW
- Renewable share: 21.2% (92% hydro, 4% solar, 4% biofuels)
- Electricity access: 59% urban, 14% rural
- Mini-grids: Over 150 (mostly diesel-based)
The Niger Basin is one of the most important river basins in Africa, as it supports large-scale irrigation, fisheries and livestock herding, provides drinking water, generates hydropower and allows navigation. It has a surface area of 2.27 million km2 shared by 10 countries and a population of almost 100 million.
- The Niger River is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded by the Nile and the Congo River and its main tributary is the Benue River which merges with the Niger at Lokoja in Nigeria.
- In a region where limited rainfall is a fact of life, the Delta is a natural dam and irrigation scheme
whose flood plain creates a grazing and cropping perimeter that at its peak can reach 30,000 km2 and sustains about 900,000 people.
- Its active basin is home to over 130 million people throughout nine countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.
- The Niger River basin is subdivided into 4 sub-basins: the Upper Niger, the Inner Delta, the Middle Niger and the Lower Niger.
- The Bani, the main tributary of the River Niger, covering 102,300 km2 upstream of Douna, rises in Côte d’Ivoire, and its watershed comprises three (03) major rivers: from west to east, the
Baoulé, the Bagoé and the Banifing of Kouoro.
- Over 70% of the basin’s population live in areas where food security depends on unreliable rainfall and highly variable inter-annual and intra-annual river flow
- The Fomi dam, to be built along the Niger River, is intended to increase the hydroelectric and irrigation potential of Guinea and Mali.
- Niger River basin has a flow of 32.5 km³ per year (average 1970-1998) in Koulikoro, Mali which is half the average flow of the Rhine River at its outlet. The flow is characterized by strong variations between the wet and dry seasons
- The natural flow of the Niger River has been increasingly regulated by the construction of dams with the objective to generate hydropower and to store and use water for irrigation.
However, there is still room for increasing energy production through the construction of further dams.
The Niger River is a vital energy source for West Africa, with an installed hydropower capacity of 2,000 MW. However, only a fraction of its potential has been harnessed. Challenges include high water withdrawal for irrigation, impacting the river's flow.
Environmental threats, such as mining and deforestation, pose risks to water quality. The region's energy landscape relies heavily on biomass, with a scarcity of modern fuels.
The diverse agroecological zones demand controlled irrigation, set to increase from 265,000 ha (2005) to 1.6 million ha by 2025. With surface water dependence rising from 45% (2005) to an anticipated 45% (2025), managing water resources is crucial for the basin's sustainable future.
Electricity
Local energy access: 50%
■ Annual primary energy consumption in the Niger basin is only 3.48 MWh per capita
■ Local electricity annual consumption per inhabitant in the basin 70 kWh
■ High hydro potential in the area, approx. 30,000 GWh, only 20% exploited.
Grid characteristics
Electric power transmission and distribution losses: 17%
■ Peak load: 5.3 GW
Other sectors
Solar thermal: 32.6TWh
■ Average mass flow: 513 m 3 /s
Energy transition challenges
■ Climate change mitigation and adaptation actions definition -land occupation (lowlands and river banks) for farming
■ Availability of head for hydropower (Kokoun Mount, 900 m high)
■ Massive clearance of forest for agriculture
■ Artisanal gold mining in river courses