The Songhai of Niger

The Songhai of Niger, numbering approximately 1,455,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a West African ethnolinguistic group linked to te Songhai Empire that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th centuries They are an Indigenous people, with Songhai as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Songhai people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Songhay, Koyraboro Senni.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Songhai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Niger
People Cluster: Songhai
Primary Language(s): Songhay, Koyraboro Senni (ses)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 1,455,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013609

Pray for the Songhai of Niger

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Songhay, Koyraboro Senni
Language Family: Songhay

100%
%
Songhay, Koyraboro Senni Speakers

Media Resources in Songhay, Koyraboro Senni:

Films:

Bible Resources in Songhay, Koyraboro Senni:

Or check out the Songhay, Koyraboro Senni bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Songhai:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Songhai are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Songhai:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Songhai are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Songhai:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Songhai of Niger

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
readPsalm 119:9

Pray that as young men place their faith in Jesus, they will walk in purity and live according to God's Word.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
readPsalm 23:3

Pray for believers to go and share the gospel with others here. Ask that God will restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Songhai, Koyraboro Senni Across Countries (ROP3 - 109404) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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