Niger reforms budget to capitalize on its population growth

Niger is holding a workshop to better manage its budget amid rapid population growth. Working with the United Nations, the government is seeking to redirect spending to improve education and health, thereby turning its population into a development asset.

Niger is facing rapid population growth, with the average annual census growth rate increasing from 3.1% in 2001 to 3.9% in 2012 and expected to reach 3.7% in 2021 according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS, 2023). This growth is mainly due to Fertility High, estimated at 6.2 children per woman by 2021. As a result, the population increases from 17.1 million in 2012 to 25.4 million in 2023. With more than 50% of the population under the age of 15, the demand for basic social services is huge, placing a huge strain on public resources.

Challenges and Strategies

Mr Diouf Djibo, Director of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said: With a fertility rate of 6.2 children per woman, the concern is not about quantity but quality of care.» He stressed the importance of addressing this sensitive issue from a social, cultural and economic perspective in order to limit potential negative impacts.

Mr. Fabien Ngendakuriyo, BSR-AO/CEA Economist, confirmed that in order to transform the demographic situation into growth opportunities, the allocation of budgetary resources must be reviewed. Low budget allocations to the education and health sectors, pillars of human capital development, threaten to delay the demographic transition and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. »

Conclusion and perspectives

Historical data show that budgetary spending on education has declined, from around 17% between 2013 and 2017 to 10% between 2018 and 2020. In contrast, spending on health has increased slightly, from 5.5% between 2013 and 2017 to 7% between 2018 and 2020. These figures point to an urgent need to effectively reallocate resources to better respond to the Demographic Challenges From the country.

The technical workshop crystallized Niger’s commitment to accelerate the harvesting of the demographic dividend by adopting a demographic dividend-sensitive budgeting (BSDD) approach in the budget process. The overall objective is to strengthen the capacity of ministries and agencies responsible for BSDD budget formulation and implementation, improve the efficiency of public spending in the implementation of the 2024 budget and integrate BSDD into the 2025 budget.

The seminar brought together representatives from the Directorate General of Budget, the Directorate General of Population, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, the National Statistics Office, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Government of Niger, with the support of its international partners, e.g. UnecaContinue to vigorously reform the budget process and seize the demographic dividend that is crucial to the country’s socio-economic development. However, this issue will eventually concern most African countries, which will represent more than 25% of the world’s population by 2050.