20120209
Reuters
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger has given a pay rise to tens of thousands of civil servants and cut the price of water and electricity in an effort to stave off social unrest in one of Africa's poorest nations, the government said.

President Mahamadou Issoufou promised the changes during the election campaign last year, and the government held months of talks with unions.

"We hope the agreement that has been signed will guarantee long-term social peace for us and allow the government to work in peace and quiet on its programme to re-launch the country," government spokesman Marou Amadou said on state television late on Tuesday.

Niger is a major exporter of uranium and has just started producing oil, but it remains one of the world's poorest nations and, perched on the edge of the Sahara, suffers repeated food crises.

It has avoided widespread protests, but demonstrations broke out in December in its second-largest town, Zinder, over the price of fuel produced at a new oil refinery there, underscoring tensions over the cost of living.

Issoufou won a March 2011 election, ending a year of military rule following the ouster of former President Mamdou Tandja.

Some 40,000 civil servants will see a 5-10 percent increase in their salaries, according to a government statement.

Low-end electricity users will see their electricity bills slashed by about 25 percent to 59.45 CFA francs per kilowatt hour (kWh). Meanwhile, the cost of water for domestic consumers will be cut by 5 percent.

The government did not say how much the reforms would cost it.