The relationship between Burkina Faso and Niger is multifaceted, encompassing historical border disputes, the impact of regional conflicts, and even football rivalries. This article delves into the various aspects of their shared history and current challenges.
Location of Burkina Faso and Niger.
The Burkina Faso-Niger Frontier Dispute Case (2013)
The Burkina Faso-Niger frontier dispute case (2013) was a public international law case with the International Court of Justice served by the West African states of Burkina Faso and Niger, which share a border.
Both nations submitted a border dispute to the court in 2010. The dispute concerned the border between Burkina Faso and Niger, both of which occupy territory previously held by the French colonies of Upper Volta and Niger, respectively.
The 1987 Protocol established a Joint Technical Commission on Demarcation of the Frontier, which had the responsibility of determining the specifics of the border. It would do so by consulting a 1927 Arrêté from the Governor-General of French West Africa, and a clarifying Erratum of 5 October 1927.
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By 2001, the commission had determined a border line that could be split into three sectors. The first and most northerly sector ran south from N'Gouma to the astronomic marker of Tong-Tong. The second sector, from Tong-Tong to the Botou Bend.
Burkina Faso and Niger agreed on the first and third sectors but disagreed on the second, having different interpretations of the Arrêté. They concluded a special agreement that referred their dispute over the second sector to the ICJ.
The International Court of Justice delivered its Judgement on 16 April 2013. The unanimous judgement mentioned the importance of the principles of uti possidetis juris and the intangibility of borders, in affirming the authority of the 1927 Arrêté over this matter.
Under the border determined by the court, 786 square kilometres (303 square miles) of territory was assigned to Burkina Faso and 277 km2 (107 sq mi) to Niger.
Both Parties were in agreement on the location of the Tong-Tong astronomic marker at 14° 25´ 04˝N, 00° 12´ 47˝E, but had slightly different coordinates for the Tao marker. The 1927 Arrêté had not specified how these two points should be connected, so the Parties differed in how it should be interpreted.
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Burkina Faso argued that the failure to specify implies these points should be connected with a straight line. Niger relied on a Record of Agreement of 13 April 1935 that had been established to settle a dispute between the residents of Dori and Téra. The court held in favour of Burkina Faso.
The 1927 Arrêté was again imprecise on how these points were to be connected. Burkina Faso took the same reasoning as for the first section, that the implication should be a straight line. Niger argued that as the 1927 Arrêté was imprecise, reference should be to the 1960 map as the Parties had agreed to in article 2 of the special agreement.
The border on the map was sinuous, however Niger further departed from it in their drawing to the effect that the border would run to a point north-west of Bossé-bangou. They relied on the descriptions of the area from other documents that suggested the 1927 Arrêté was incorrectly drawn on this point.
The 1927 Arrêté's raison d’être was to delineate new borders after the transfer of certain districts from the Colony of Upper Volta to the Colony of Niger, and the border it delineated did not properly account for those districts. The court held that its mandate was to interpret and apply the 1927 Arrêté and, if it were inadequate, to use the 1960 map and not other principles of law.
The court considered that as villages on either side of the border required access to water, the 1927 Arrêté would have intended the border to on the median line of the River Sirba and not on either bank.
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Both parties agreed on the point referred to as the Botou bend. Having located the intersection, the court had only to determine the line between these two points. Burkina Faso argued the 1927 Arrêté specified that this would be a straight line. Niger relied on colonial and postcolonial effectivités to argue that the two nations had come to an implicit agreement regarding a line that closer followed the 1960 map.
On 20 July 2010, Burkina Faso and Niger jointly submitted a frontier dispute between them to the Court, pursuant to a Special Agreement signed in Niamey on 24 February 2009 and which entered into force on 20 November 2009.
In its Judgment of 16 April 2013, the Court first observed that Article 6 of the Special Agreement, entitled “Applicable Law”, highlighted, amongst the rules of international law applicable to the dispute, “the principle of the intangibility of boundaries inherited from colonization and the Agreement of 28 March 1987”.
It noted that the first two Articles of that Agreement specify the acts and documents of the French colonial administration which must be used to determine the delimitation line that existed when the two countries gained independence.
The Court decided that, having regard to the circumstances of the case, it would nominate at a later date, by means of an Order, the experts requested by the Parties in Article 7, paragraph 4, of the Special Agreement to assist them in the demarcation of their frontier in the area in dispute.
By an Order of 12 July 2013, the Court nominated the said three experts.
Conflict and Instability in the Central Sahel
Populations in the Central Sahel - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - are enduring armed conflict and inter-communal violence amidst an entrenched insurgency driven by armed Islamist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda (JNIM) and the so-called Islamic State Sahel Province.
Armed Islamist groups perpetrate recurrent abuses and attacks against civilians. These groups systematically use sieges, threats, kidnappings, improvised explosive devices and landmines as deliberate tactics of war as they seek to control supply routes and increase areas of influence.
They have also enforced their own interpretation of Sharia law in areas under their control, imposing severe gender discriminatory rules. In besieged areas, armed Islamist groups are blocking humanitarian aid to civilians and causing starvation, imposing forced taxation and strategically destroying and looting civilian objects, including places of worship, health centers, food reserves and water services, among other violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Counterterrorism operations have often led to human rights violations in all three states, with security forces in Mali and Burkina Faso implicated in likely war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and Russian state-controlled Africa Corps (formerly the Wagner Group) have perpetrated possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, including summary executions, indiscriminate airstrikes, rape and sexual violence, pillaging and torture against civilians, among other abuses.
The insurgency in the Central Sahel has its origins in the 2012-2013 armed conflict in northern Mali, during which populations endured atrocity crimes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Iyad Ag Ghaly, the head of the armed Islamist group Ansar Dine, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC has convicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz, a senior member of the Islamic Police of Timbuktu and Ansar Dine, of war crimes and crimes against humanity, while Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was convicted of war crimes for the intentional destruction of cultural sites.
The region has faced significant political and security upheaval since 2020, including military takeovers in all three countries. Amid these shifts, the military regimes have taken several measures to repress civic and political space and reduce international scrutiny into the country’s human rights situations.
In Burkina Faso, the “general mobilization” decree - a law purportedly aiming to curtail the spread of violence and recapture territory - has been abused by the authorities through forcible conscription, arbitrary arrests or kidnapping of dozens of perceived critics, human rights defenders and magistrates in counterinsurgency operations, likely amounting to enforced disappearances.
Massacres of ethnic Fulani civilians have increased in Burkina Faso and Mali as national security forces and allied armed actors respond to escalating insurgent activity with retaliatory violence against civilians.
During May at least 20 Fulani civilians were summarily executed and buried in mass graves after being arrested by FAMa soldiers in the central town of Diafarabé. The FAMa reportedly launched airstrikes targeting JNIM militants in Diafarabé, resulting in civilian harm.
In April several decomposed bodies were discovered near a Malian military camp in the southwest, days after the army and Wagner paramilitaries arrested approximately 100 civilians, most of them Fulani.
In Burkina Faso, a weeks-long campaign led by special forces during March resulted in at least 130 civilians killed and significant displacement of Fulani around the town of Solenzo.
In May JNIM reportedly captured two provincial capitals in Burkina Faso - Djibo and Diapaga - and temporarily took control of military and civilian infrastructure. In the Mopti region of Mali, JNIM has burned homes, looted livestock and launched attacks, including kidnappings, against civilians in recent months in apparent retaliation against local communities whom JNIM accuses of collaborating with the Dan Na Ambassagou self-defense militia.
Southwest Niger’s Tillabéri region has faced recurrent attacks by armed groups, with a significant spike in violence since February. Suspected IS-Sahel militants killed at least 44 worshippers at a mosque during March.
Meanwhile, in May Mali’s military government outlawed and criminalized political parties, as well as any organizations they label as “political,” triggering mass protests and outrage.
Map of conflict zones in the Sahel.
Shared Vulnerabilities and Challenges
While Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger each face distinct challenges, these states also share a legacy of structural vulnerabilities, weak governance, limited state presence and porous borders. Although the military authorities in each country have expressed a goal of advancing security to protect civilian lives, the security situation has continued to deteriorate, amplifying risks to civilians.
The expanded area of influence and/or control by armed Islamist groups has resulted in serious human rights abuses and war crimes. Armed Islamist groups appear to be deliberately targeting civilians as a tactic to pressure communities into cooperation, as well as utilizing blockades to punish communities perceived to be supportive of the military. Populations continue to be targeted and persecuted on the basis of their ethnic and/or religious identity.
The VDP’s actions fuel abuses and possible atrocity crimes, aggravate ethnic tensions, encourage militant recruitment among pastoralists and contribute to prevailing impunity. The crackdown against human rights defenders and civic space across the three countries has inhibited independent documentation and monitoring of violations and abuses. Other efforts to investigate allegations of atrocities by state actors have also been undermined.
While countering violent extremism remains crucial, it is essential that all armed actors ensure that their operations comply with IHL, as well as the Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa, and do not exacerbate inter-communal tensions or fuel further violence. The militaries must establish guidelines on the use of aerial weapons during operations and ensure they minimize civilian harm. All actors should refrain from supporting or collaborating with ethnically aligned militias with poor human rights records.
The military authorities of the Central Sahel - with support from national human rights commissions and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights - should investigate all violations of International Human Rights Law and IHL. Authorities must stop threatening civil society and ensure they can operate without fear of reprisals.
Football Rivalry: Burkina Faso vs Niger
Burkina Faso faces Niger at on Fri, Nov 14, 2025, 11:00 UTC. This match is part of the Friendlies. You can check the recent head-to-head encounters, as well as full H2H record on this page to see how Burkina Faso and Niger have fared against each other in the past.
On FotMob, you can follow the Burkina Faso vs Niger live score with a full set of match features, including:
- Live updates: Every goal, card, substitution and key moment instantly delivered on FotMob.
- Real-time extensive stats powered by Opta: Possession, shots, corners, big chances created, xG, momentum, and shot maps.
- Predicted lineups and formations are available for the match a few days in advance while the actual lineup will be as soon as it is announced, usually an hour ahead of the match.
- Injury and suspension information are provided on FotMob ahead of every match, giving you the latest team news before lineups are announced.
- Team form & Head-to-head history: Compare recent results and see how Burkina Faso and Niger have performed against each other. The current head to head record for the teams are Burkina Faso 3 win(s), Niger 0 win(s), and 1 draw(s).
- TV and streaming info: Find out where to watch the match.
- Live standings: Follow league tables and tournament info in real time.
- Live odds & insights: Track match favorites and before, during and post match.
- Commentary & ticker: Rich text commentary for major matches to follow the action even if you can't watch.
All of these features make FotMob the best way to follow Burkina Faso vs Niger, whether you're checking the scores or diving into detailed stats. FotMob also covers every team and competition worldwide, with fixtures, results, and squad info available on team pages.
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Here's a summary of previous matches between Burkina Faso and Niger:
Czechia vs Burkina Faso Highlights | FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025
Head-to-Head Matches
| Date | Time (UTC) | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Oct 26 | 10:00 PM | Burkina Faso vs Niger | 1-1 |
| Fri, Oct 12 | 1:00 PM | Burkina Faso vs Niger | 1-1 |
| Thu, Oct 02 | 4:00 PM | Niger vs Burkina Faso | 0-2 |
| Sat, Sep 27 | 3:00 PM | Niger vs Burkina Faso | 1-0 (5-6 on penalties) |
| Sat, Sep 06 | 2:00 PM | Burkina Faso vs Niger | 1-0 |
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