Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to health systems across Africa, but responding effectively depends on knowing which bacteria are becoming resistant, where resistance is occurring, and how those patterns are changing. In Niger, clinicians have increasingly encountered infections that are difficult to treat, yet the country has lacked comprehensive national evidence showing the scale and distribution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Through the Initiative to Develop African Research Leaders (IDeAL), Dr. Oubayyou Mamoudou Abdoulaye is helping to close that gap by leading research that brings together AMR data from across Niger and builds the local expertise needed to respond to this growing public health challenge.

The challenge: A national threat without national evidence

For clinicians treating bacterial infections, antimicrobial resistance can turn an otherwise manageable infection into a serious clinical challenge. Health professionals in Niger have reported worrying levels of antibiotic resistance, including among vulnerable patients such as those using catheters. However, much of the available evidence has been generated from individual facilities or locations, making it difficult to understand whether the same resistance patterns are occurring elsewhere in the country.

This evidence gap has consequences beyond the laboratory. Without nationally representative data, health authorities and clinicians have limited information to guide antibiotic use, strengthen surveillance, develop targeted antimicrobial stewardship interventions or identify areas where resistance may be particularly severe. Building a clearer national picture is therefore an important step towards protecting the effectiveness of existing antibiotics and improving the treatment of bacterial infections.

The response: Building Niger’s first national picture of AMR

Supported through IDeAL, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Abdoulaye is leading a study examining phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance among priority bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Klebsiella. The research draws on clinical isolates collected between 2019 and 2023 from health facilities across Niger’s nine regions, creating an opportunity to examine resistance patterns at a scale that has not previously been possible in the country.

IDeAL’s investment has been important not only in supporting the research itself, but also in strengthening the environment needed to conduct it. Through the fellowship, Dr. Abdoulaye has received support for laboratory materials, field sample collection, access to specialised research platforms and skilled technical personnel. This has enabled him to move beyond isolated observations of resistance and begin building a national evidence base capable of revealing geographical patterns and the characteristics of resistant bacteria circulating in Niger.

The impact: Evidence, people and systems

The significance of the work goes beyond producing a new dataset. For the first time, Niger is developing evidence that can provide a more comprehensive picture of how antimicrobial resistance varies across the country. Once translated into practice, these findings can help clinicians and health authorities identify important resistance trends, strengthen antimicrobial stewardship and make better-informed decisions about surveillance and treatment.

The study is also creating capacity that will remain long after the research is completed. By working with health centres and laboratories across the country, the project has strengthened connections between researchers and regional health institutions. Master’s and PhD students have also gained practical experience in bacteriology and AMR research, extending specialist knowledge to a new generation of Nigerien researchers.

This is an important part of the wider DELTAS Africa story. The investment is not simply supporting one researcher or one study. It is enabling an African scientist to investigate a health challenge of national importance, strengthening the people and institutions around that research, and generating locally produced evidence that can contribute to better health policy and practice.

For Dr. Abdoulaye, the fellowship has created the resources and research environment needed to ask a question with national significance. For Niger, it is helping turn observations of antibiotic resistance in individual hospitals into a body of evidence that can support a coordinated response. In a field where effective action depends on understanding what is happening locally, that shift from scattered information to nationally relevant evidence is an important step towards a stronger response to antimicrobial resistance.