POLICY PAPER| FES PSCC Promoting Sustainable Security and Stability in the Sahel: What is the Outlook for Niger in the Aftermath of the Military Coup? Dr. Seidik ABBA November 2023 I. Background For several years now, Niger, a West African state covering 1,267,000 km 2 , has been facing a security challenge of unprecedented magnitude and persis­tence. On its south-eastern border, which it shares with Benin, Nigeria, and Chad, the country has to contend with threats from the Nigerian-based jihadist group Boko Haram in the Diffa region, as well as cross-border crime spilling over from the Nigerian state of Zamfara into the Maradi region in central-eastern Niger. On its north-western border, which it shares with Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger has to deal with activists from armed terrorist groups based in northern Mali, particularly the two main terrorist groups in the Sahel: Islamic State in the Greater Sahara(ISGS) and the Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin(Support Group for Islam and Muslims- JNIM). Finally, the country has to keep a very close eye on its northern border with Libya, where the collapse of the central government has made way for the expansion of criminal gangs whose activities can easily reach across the border. Due to the situation in Libya, a lucrative trade in weapons of war has developed in the Agadez region of Niger, along the common border. Reflecting the scale of the security challenge in Niger, three of the country’s eight regions(Diffa, Tahoua and Tillabéry) have been placed under a state of emergency since 2015. Although it is more vulnerable and even larger than Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger’s security situation is less critical than that of its two neighbours. Underpinning the country’s resilience is its high level of political stability, as reflected in the presidential election of December 2020, which, although hotly contested, never developed into a full-blown post-election crisis. Indeed, the candidate who lost in the second round of the presidential race, Mahamane Ousmane, chose to explore all legal avenues at national level before turning to the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS). Former President