NIGER

"From Guinea, passing through Bamako in Mali, Ségou, Mopti, then Timbuktu, Bourem, Gao and Ansongo, up to Niamey in Niger, life is organized around the river. The river is life. Oddly, the Niger has given its name to the country that it runs through the least. In the dry season, the waterway slims down and reveals wide bands of yellow earth that, in Niamey, resemble beaches in the eyes of vacationers. Myriads of children splash about and transform the banks into vast football grounds, studded with the colorful stains of washing set out to dry and roamed by herds that come to drink.

The ocean is far away, but here, everyone has already seen, or thinks that they’ve already seen the sea: in Songhay as in Tamasheq, the same word is used for 'sea' and 'river'. In the rainy season, the river overflows and floods the banco constructions which endlessly call out for rebuilding. We sometimes dream of hard cement. Unfortunately, real-estate developers are already starting to concrete over the banks with hotels and are speculating about constructing beautiful villas. There’s reason to fear that the little people of Niamey will soon be chased from the riverbanks."

Extract from Retour à Tombouctou, 2015, Éditions Gallimard