In circumstances that are sensitive politically, economically, socially and with regard to safety, relations between the EU and Niger are mainly expressed through development cooperation.

Niger is facing many challenges, both in terms of development and in terms of security and humanitarian areas. The country is at the bottom of the ranking of the Human Development Index of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), despite progress in terms of economic growth and social development recorded in recent years. The food security situation is structurally fragile, due to poor harvests linked to droughts and recurrent floods and because of precarious conditions in which live large segments of the Nigerian society.