Niger–Nigeria relations on the waters of the Niger River and Lake Chad. Both areas face rapid desertification and increasing demands for water. The two nations are members of the Niger Basin Authority (successor to the 1964 Niger River Commission), the Lake Chad Commission, and the "Niger-Nigeria Joint Committee" has special focus on water and water development issues. The two nations are signatories of The Enugu Agreement (3 December 1977) on common regulations for fauna and flora among the member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad). On 15 January 1990 the two nations signed "The Abuja Agreement"
Niger far east as western Niger. The Kanem-Bornu Empire was an empire that existed in modern-day Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Libya. The empire first existed and prospered as the Kanem Empire as early as the 9th century and later as the Kingdom of Bornu until 1900. In the 19th century, contact with Europe began with the first European explorers—notably Monteil (French) and Barth (German)—to travel to Niger. Following the 1885 Berlin conference during which colonial powers outlined the division of Africa into colonial spheres, French military efforts to conquer existing African states were intensified in all French colonies including Niger.