“Tout a été loti!”: Decentralisation, Land Speculation and Urban Expansion in Niamey, Niger

Abstract

In and around Niamey, land has emerged as a central source of economic and political capital and as the object of intense competition. Land speculation has accelerated with the decentralisation of land management including zoning or land subdivision operations (lotissement) whereby rural land such as agricultural fields are transformed into land plots mainly for housing. The multiplication of actors involved in zoning has led to an unprecedented competition over land on the urban fringe, involving a multitude of actors including municipalities, private and public enterprises, private entrepreneurs and individual land speculators, national politicians, customary landowners and other brokers and intermediaries. With the rapid proliferation of public and private zoning operations, zoning and land management have also quickly become central question in local and municipal politics, engendering conflicts, competition and contestation. In this paper we analyse the economic, political and spatial stakes of land management in the periphery of Niamey. We show that land speculation is part of a wider struggle for political and economic influence that is reshaping local political arenas and rapidly transforming the urban periphery.