Visiting business people or tourists must have a visa to enter Niger. Visas are issued by the embassy of Niger in Washington, D.C. and other Nigerien embassies abroad. A business visa is valid for three months during which time a residence permit, good for two years and renewable indefinitely, can be obtained. Right to private ownership and establishment 7. By law and in practice, foreign and domestic private entities have the right to establish and own business enterprises and engage in all forms of remunerative activity.
Private entities can freely establish, acquire, and dispose of interests in business enterprises.
Non-Nigeriens interested in opening service establishments or small shops must obtain special authorization from the ministry of commerce. The government is receptive to foreign interest in acquiring ownership in privatized parastatals. Protection of property rights 8. Protection is initially granted for 10 years and is renewable under varying schedules for up to another 10 years. As a signatory to the 1983 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Niger provides national treatment under Nigerien patent and trademark laws to American businessmen and other investors.