Niamey’s Grand Market; screenshot from Sky Travel’s YouTube channel.

The status of French, which was designated as Niger’s official language during colonial times, was revoked in March 2025, with Hausa becoming the new official language. This decision has not been well received within Nigerien society, especially as diplomatic tensions with France continue to worsen.

On March 17, 2025, the Republic of the Niger and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). The next day, March 18, 2025, Mali followed suit. Since Niger and Mali were two founding nations of the organisation, the withdrawal of these three countries, also members of the Alliance of Sahel States, deals yet another blow to this international institution.

Niger’s National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, the body governing the country’s institutions since the July 26, 2023 coup, posted on its X account:

🔴Retrait du Niger de l'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie pic.twitter.com/yrX9vAeN0Y

— Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (@NIGER_CNSP) March 17, 2025

🔴 Niger is withdrawing from the International Organisation of la Francophonie pic.twitter.com/yrX9vAeN0Y

I have the honour to inform you that, by Note Verbale No. 003304/MAE/C/NE/CAB/M dated 7 March 2025, the Government of Niger has taken the sovereign decision to withdraw from the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

I would be grateful if you would share this information with the competent authorities in your respective countries.

—National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (@NIGER_ CNSP) March 17, 2025

A few days after this announcement, the Nigerien military authorities made the decision to further cut ties with France: French was relegated to the status of a working language, whilst Hausa was designated as the official language. A mere 13 percent of people speak French in the country.

A shift away from colonial legacies

Whereas eleven languages are recognised as national languages in the country, Hausa is spoken by 47 percent of the 27 million Nigeriens — just under half the population. For Ismael, a young student at Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger’s capital, this justifies its promotion to the status of official language. During an interview with Global Voices conducted via WhatsApp, he explained:

Je ne peux pas remettre en question cette décision des autorités. Nous avons plusieurs langues parlées dans notre pays mais elles ont juste le statut de langues nationales, alors qu'elles enregistrent plus de locuteurs que le français. D'ailleurs cette langue coloniale n'est parlée que par moins de 15% des Nigériens. C'est une reconnaissance à la langue haoussa qui est parlée et comprise par beaucoup de personnes dans le pays.

I cannot possibly challenge this decision from the authorities. Several languages are spoken in our country but they have no more than national language status when they outnumber French in terms of speakers. Besides, this colonial language is spoken by fewer than 15 percent of Nigeriens. This move is a recognition of the Hausa language, which is spoken and understood by many people in the country.

For Ibrahima Amadou (not her real name), also interviewed via WhatsApp, this decision is part of the ongoing assertion of sovereignty by the country’s new leaders. According to her, they have embarked on a process of full national sovereignty and are therefore making decisions to justify their actions.

Le concept de souveraineté doit être assumé sur tous les plans. Ils ne peuvent pas dénoncer des pratiques coloniales et garder le français, une langue coloniale qui nous a été imposée, comme langue nationale. Donner à la langue haoussa le statut de langue officielle est justifié.

The concept of sovereignty must be embraced on all fronts. They cannot denounce colonial practices and keep French as the official language when it is a colonial language imposed upon us as the national language. Giving Hausa the status of official language is justified.

On X, African Stream welcomes and supports this decision by Niger:

NIGER SAYS ‘GOODBYE FRENCH,
HELLO HAUSA!’

Niger has broken free from another colonial chain — the French language — by adopting Hausa as the country’s new national idiom. Hausa is indigenous to, and widely spoken in, West Africa. Along with fellow Alliance of Sahel States. members Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger also recently ditched the body representing La Francophonie — i.e., the ‘French speaking’ world (or rather, those parts of the world that had French imposed on them by colonial France). Hausa is one of the most commonly spoken African languages. More Nigeriens speak Hausa than French. In 2012, only 20 percent of Nigeriens were literate in French. Switching to Hausa is a powerful affirmation of African heritage, identity and sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/hHCiZipnOk

— African Stream (@african_stream) April 10, 2025

A hard blow for education

Although the use of national languages is encouraged from an early age, French has always been the dominant language used in teaching in the country.

In 2018, as more and more children and young people dropped out of school, the government decided to strengthen instruction in local languages. In this article from the French newspaper Le Monde in February 2018, Rabiou Rachida, a contract teacher for the first year of bilingual primary education (CIB), explains:

En zarma [deuxième langue la plus parlée au Niger avec plus 18% de locuteurs], les enfants comprennent plus facilement et plus vite qu’en français.

In Zarma [the second most spoken language in Niger with over 18 percent of speakers], children grasp concepts more easily and quickly than in French.

This teacher’s statement confirms how important an education in local languages is — also an argument put forward by today’s Niger’s ruling military authorities.

However, in a WhatsApp interview with Global Voices, Affiz Ousmane, a student at Dan Dicko Dankoulodo University (UDDM) in the town of Maradi, in the centre of the country, suggests that such a rapid change in the status of French may negatively affect the education system:

Le changement est brusque, brutal et c'est l'éducation qui va prendre un coup. Notre système éducatif a toujours été en langue française, surtout le niveau supérieur. Il va falloir réorganiser cela en profondeur pour ne pas faire de victimes.

J'espère vivement que ce changement ne se fera pas de la façon dont les autorités militaires ont rompu les relations avec la France et les institutions internationales auxquelles nous appartenons. 

The shift is sudden and harsh. Education is going to take a blow. Our education system has always been in French, especially at university. It will need to be thoroughly reorganised to avoid casualties.

I sincerely hope this change will not happen in the same way as the military authorities cut ties with France and the international institutions we are part of.

Since the July 26, 2023 coup, it is obvious that relations between Niger and France have deteriorated, resulting in a deep transformation of Nigerien society. Already in October 2024, military authorities started to strip any French names from avenues, monuments and other public spaces, replacing them with people’s names, giving these spaces a purely Nigerien identity.