Niamey was probably founded in the eighteenth
century, but was of little importance to most of the country until the French developed a colonial post in the
1890s. This rapidly grew into an important center. In 1926 it became the
capital of Niger, and the population gradually increased, from about 3,000 in
1930 to around 30,000 in 1960. The
period from 1970 to 1988 was one in which the economy
