The currency of the country is the West African CFA franc, denoted CFA (ISO currency code: XOF). It’s also used by seven other West African countries. It is interchangeable at par with the Central African CFA franc (XAF), which is used by six countries. Both currencies are fixed at a rate of 1 euro = 655.957 CFA francs.

US dollars and other foreign currency are not accepted in daily transactions, only to exchange into local money via a bank or black market. Exception: near the border of Nigeria, the devaluing Nigerian currency Naira is accepted.

There are no railways in Niger.

Of the 10,000 km of highways, over 2000 km is paved and efforts are being made to improve some of the sections that have previously been endlessly under repair. You can travel from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso all the way to Diffa, near Lake Chad on roads that are in decent to tolerable condition. The road from Niamey to “Park W” in the south is paved. The Zinder-Agadez route is being repaved after being in severe disrepair for years. The Birni Nkonni-Agadez-Arlit road is in poor shape.

The country has 27 airports/landing strips, 9 of which have paved runways.

From mid-December to March the Niger River is navigable for about 300 km, from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin border.

Taxis in Niamey charge about CFA 200 if the distance isn’t too long, or CFA 400 for going almost across the city. At the airport in Niamey there is a taxi monopoly and the lowest you’ll get a taxi for is CFA 3,000 – and that’s if you haggle a lot! However, if you walk south from the airport you’ll hit a main road and for CFA 100-150 you can get a ride from a beat up van to the Grand Marché (Main Market), luggage included.

BY BUS:

The Nigerien government has recently set up a bus service along the major routes of the country. While taking cars is exciting and interesting, they are dangerous, extremely hot, and more expensive. Plus, they are forced to pull over after midnight due to banditry. Because these cars often only leave in the evening, it can take several days to travel a relatively short distance. The large buses are brand new Mercedes buses and they carry a soldier at night so they may drive all night long. In addition, due to their large size, they can skim over potholes that would destroy the smaller vans.

RENT A CAR:

There is almost no possibility to rent a car in the usual sense, although in 2005 a Hertz franchise came to Niamey and rents Toyota RAV4s. Also, you can rent a full-size “cat-cat” (4×4 from the French quatre-quatre) with a driver/guide, but in most cases you will have to arrange with companies that organise expeditions.

EAT:

Local, traditional food includes:

• a dense millet porridge with an okra sauce, a pepper sauce, a tomato sauce, or a squash sauce on top, sometimes with veggies and a couple chunks of meat
  
• rice with the above sauces
  
• mushy macaroni pasta with an oily red sauce
  
• rice & beans
  
• corn cous-cous mixed with moringa leaves, black-eyed peas, and sauce (called dumbou in Djera/Zarma, and only available in Djerma/Zarma regions)

Availability varies widely by region, but visitors may wish to try the following delicious specialities, usually available as street food:

• dumbou
  
• kilishi: beef jerkey that comes in three flavours: regular, peanut-spiced, and hot-pepper-spiced
  
• masa: delicious sourdough pancakes eaten with a peanut/hot pepper/ginger spice mix or a brown sauce
  
• fari masa: fried dough balls served with either a squash/tomato salsa or sugar
  
• chichena: like fari masa above, but made from bean flour instead of wheat flour
  
• koudagou (Djerma/Zarma): fried sweet potato chunks with sauce

Less exotic but also tasty:

• brochettes — meat kabobs made from either beef, lamb, or goat
  
• omelet sandwiches
  
• mangoes: if in season, they are bigger and juicier than any available in the western world
  
• yoghurt: pasteurized, sweet, and available wherever there is a fridge
  
• fried fish sandwiches
  
• ground beef sandwiches
  
• plates of garlicky green beans or peas (usually in bars and restaurants)

Be careful of the salads — even in the city, they’re usually not OK for western travellers.

DRINK:

Drink plenty of filtered or bottled water. You will get dehydrated during your trip to Niger at one point. At times it can be hard to find bottled water, but ask for “Purewater” (pronounced pure-wata) that comes in sealed plastic bags for usually CFA 25 (CFA 50 in some hard-to-reach places). You will also need to replenish your salts more frequently than you are accustomed.

Keep in mind that drinking alcohol is generally forbidden in Muslim culture, so take extra care to keep drunken, inappropriate behaviour behind closed doors and out of the public eye.

The national beer is called, appropriately, Biere Niger. The only other locally produced beer is a franchise of the French West-African Flag brewery. While taste is in the eye of the beerholder, Biere Niger is decent. Both are brewed in the same tank from the same ingredients with the slightest variation on how much reconstituted malt they put in each batch. All other beer, boxed wine, and hard liquor is imported.

In rare pockets of the capital you can find millet beer homebrew, brewed by Burkinabe immigrants. This is drunk out of calabash gourd bowls. Some compare the taste to a dry, unsweetened cider. See the Niamey section for directions.

Locally-made non-alcoholic drinks are delicious. Safety depends on the water quality: generally OK in the capital and NOT OK in rural areas. They are either sold by women out of their houses (ask around), by young girls from trays on their heads, or by young boys pushing around coolers. These drinks include:

• lemu-hari: a sweet lemony-gingery drink
  
• bisap: a dark red kool-aid-type drink made from hibiscus leaves
  
• apollo: a thick, pinkish-brownish drink made from the baobab fruit
  
• degue: sweet yoghurt with small millet balls (like tapioca)

To drink, you bite the corner off the bag.

Bargaining and haggling is essential and expected. It’s best to have a low price and a maximum price in mind before entering into a negotiation. If the price is higher than you want, just say thanks and walk away: if you were offering a fair price you will be called back. If you were offering too low a price, you won’t be called back, but you can always go back later and offer more.

Nigerien artisan specialities include:

• intricately imprinted leather boxes (ranging from small 5-cm boxes to full-size trunks)
  
• other leather goods
  
• silver jewellery
  
• colourful hand-woven wedding blankets
  
• coloured straw mats (and here, we don’t mean the plastic mats from China)
  
• fabric (only the Enitex brand is made in Niger, but there are many other kinds that are also good)