Anfani FM is a privately operated radio network in the West African nation of Niger

Niger

Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

. Based in the capitol of Niamey

Niamey

-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...

, Anfani also has stations in the regional centers of Maradi, Zinder

Zinder

Zinder is the second largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 by 2005 was estimated to be over 200,000...

, Birni Nkonni, and Diffa

Diffa

Diffa is a city and Urban Commune in the extreme southeast of Niger, near that country's border with Nigeria, with a population of 23,600 . It is the administrative seat of both Diffa Region, and the smaller Diffa Department...

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History and content

Founded by newspaper journalist Grémah Boucar as an offshoot of his Anfani print news weekly, Radio Anfani (FM 100MHz) in Niamey was one of Niger's first non-governmental broadcasters. Anfani was shut several times in the 1990s by the government of Col. Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara

Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara

Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was a military officer in the West African country of Niger who seized power in a January 1996 coup d'état and ruled the country until his assassination during the military coup of April 1999....

. Since the return of civilian rule in 1999, Anfani FM journalists have faced arrest and government sanctions related to their reporting on a number of occasions.

Anfani provided access to the airways for opposition politicians during the military regime, and continues to broadcast domestic news in French, Hausa, Djerma, and other regional languages. The station also rebroadcasts the Voice of America

Voice of America

Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...

 and Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...

 news. While private, Anfani has previously received grants from the United States government, through the National Endowment for Democracy

National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...

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Stations

Anfani broadcasts with transmitters of 1.5 kW based in Niamey

Niamey

-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...

, Maradi, Birni Nkonni, Zinder

Zinder

Zinder is the second largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 by 2005 was estimated to be over 200,000...

 and Diffa

Diffa

Diffa is a city and Urban Commune in the extreme southeast of Niger, near that country's border with Nigeria, with a population of 23,600 . It is the administrative seat of both Diffa Region, and the smaller Diffa Department...

, all on on FM 100MHZ.