2020-01-27 Mon

Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa named after the Niger River. Niger is bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin to the southwest, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest.

Niger is a developing country, which consistently ranks near the bottom of the United Nations' Human Development Index. The economy of Niger centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits.

The West African CFA franc is the currency of eight independent states in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. When the CFA franc was introduced, notes issued by the Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique Occidentale in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 1000 francs were in circulation. 500-franc notes were added in 1946, followed by those of 5,000 francs in 1948.

Depicted in the image alongside is a 1000 Francs banknotes issued in 2019. The obverse has a stylized sawfish reproduction of the bronze figurine which was formerly used to weigh the gold powder among Akan people. The figurine is in centre and is surrounded by the theme of Health and Education in West Africa which depicts Terrestrial geographical globe, books, chalk writing board, Red Cross, pharmacy symbol of a snake coiled around a cup, a.k.a. Caduceus medical symbol or a bowl of Hygeia with the serpent of Epidaurus.

The reverse of the banknote depicts Two Dromedary camels in a desert of Sahel region. This red-pink note has the Sawfish Akan gold weight pendant and Electrotype "1000" as its watermark.

Image Courtesy: PicClick