Madar (Niamey) - Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine received Senegal's Minister of African Integration, Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, Cheikh Niang, at his office in Niamey on Friday, 6 November 2026. Niang carried a message from President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to his Nigerien counterpart, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, the Niger News Agency (ANP) reported.
The content of the message was not disclosed. Speaking to the press, Senegal's top diplomat said he was in Niger to follow up on the "excellent" relations between the two countries, ties he said had been "of quality" since independence and remained "excellent".
Niang also conveyed President Faye's condolences on the death of President Tiani's father on 5 November 2026.
The minister noted that West Africa is now divided between two bodies, ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). "We understand and respect the choices made by our brothers in Mali, Burkina and Niger to create this entity," he said, adding that both sides saw the importance of consulting each other "because we share a common space and extremely strong historical roots".
"With Senegal holding the ECOWAS presidency, we thought it important to come and talk to our Nigerien brothers, to listen to their advice and their suggestions," he said, calling for the free movement of goods and people to continue. The mixing between peoples "must not be stopped, limited or blocked", he added.
Niger and Senegal cooperate in several fields and belong to several sub-regional and international organisations, ANP noted.
