Niger Republic’s Number of Regions Increases to 19 After Creation of 11 New Ones

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The number of regions in the Republic of Niger has increased from 8 to 19 following the creation of 11 new regions, a senior official announced before the National Council on Tuesday.

A director representing the Minister of Interior, General Mohamed Toumba, made the announcement while presenting a draft decree on the creation of the new regions to the Council.

According to the draft, each of the country’s original 8 regions has been split into two or three parts, while other new regions were created by extracting certain departments from existing regions and merging them into a single region.

Minister Toumba explained that the original Maradi region has been divided into three, resulting in the creation of the Katsina, Gobir, and Tazar regions. Similarly, the Damagaram/Zinder region has been split into three, giving rise to the Daura, Damagaram, and Damergou regions.

A novel aspect of the reform is the renaming of most regions, with the exception of the capital, Niamey, which will retain its name as the seat of the national government.