Niger drops French as official language

The move comes amid increasingly strained relations with Paris.

Niger’s transitional government has demoted French and declared Hausa the country’s national language. The move is set out in a new charter recently adopted by the West African nation, declaring French a ‘working language’.

Although Hausa is the most widely spoken language in Niger, French has had official status since the country’s independence from France in 1960. The new leadership in Niamey – which took power following a coup that deposed civilian President Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023 – has sought to cut ties with Paris.

Late last month, the Sahel state adopted the Charter of Refoundation, which the government says will be executed as state law. The country’s November 2010 Constitution was suspended after the July 26 coup.

“The national language is Hausa… and the working languages are English and French,” Article 12 of the charter reads, published in Niger’s official journal, AFP reported on Tuesday.

According to the document, nine other languages, including Zarma-Songhay, Fulfulde (Peul), Kanuri, Gourmantche, and Arabic, have been designated ‘spoken languages’ of Niger.

The transition charter, which first emerged from a national conference held in February, also extended the term of Niger’s interim president, Abdourahamane Tchiani, for five years.

Niger and its allies Burkina Faso and Mali withdrew from the global French-speaking group, the International Organization of Francophone Nations (OIF), in March. The three countries – founders of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – accused the OIF of deviating from its mission of promoting cultural and technical cooperation and becoming a biased tool for political manipulation.

The AES also criticized the Paris-based organization for disregarding the sovereignty of its countries through the selective application of sanctions. The group suspended Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger following military coups in the three former French colonies, which were among the first members of the OIF when it was founded in Niamey on March 20, 1970.

Relations between Bamako, Niamey, and Ouagadougou and Paris have deteriorated in the aftermath of the military takeovers. The three military governments have all terminated defense cooperation with Paris over allegations of meddling and the failure by French forces to put down a deadly jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region.