Claim: Niger has adopted Hausa as new official language replacing French
Source: Social media, news reports
Verdict: True
Researched by Alfa Shaban
News reports on social media suggest that Niger have ditched French as an official language replacing it with Hausa.
Since April 7, 2024, captions such as “Niger has rejected French and has adopted Hausa as its national language,” “Niger officially drops French and adopts Hausa as its national language,” among others have flooded social media platforms, especially X.
Fig 1 – Posts on X about new status of Hausa in Niger
Posts across social media platforms hailed the Abdourahmane Tchiani-led junta for downgrading French to a working language and elevating an indigenous African language to the status of official language. (Here, here, here, here, here)
The West African country, which exited the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc in January 2025, is currently under the CNSP military junta which took power after the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum in 2023.
The country is currently part of the three-nation Alliance of Sahel States (known by the French acronym AES). The two other members being Burkina Faso and Mali.
This report will verify the claim that Hausa is Niger’s new official language.
Fact-check
An official language is the language a government designates for formal use in laws, official documents, and public communication, as well as for interacting with citizens. It is essentially the language used by the government to conduct its business.
A working language, however, operates more like the official language but is of a lower status.
Niger has used French as its official language before and after independence from France in 1960.
GhanaFact contacted Souleymane Brah, a fellow fact-checker in Niger. He confirmed the new status of Hausa. “The reports are true,” he told us via WhatsApp.
“It was published in the official journal of the Republic of Niger,” he added.
Brah also shared a copy of the 7-page official journal titled ‘TEXTE FONDAMENTAUX’ with GhanaFact. The document dated March 31, 2025, on page 3 under Chapter 3, Article 12, addressed the issue of languages.
It read: “The languages spoken in Niger are Arabic, Buduma, Fulfulde, Gurmanceme, Hausa, Kanuri, Tagdalt, Tamajaq, Tassawaq, Tubu and Zarma-Sonrai.”
- “The national language is Hausa.”
- “The working languages are English and French.”
Fig 2 – Screenshot from the Nigerien Refoundation Charter
Verdict
Niger has adopted Hausa as a national /official language while French has been demoted to a working language and English has for the first time been introduced as a working language.
