Maradi

Maradi is a trading city close enough to Nigeria that its architecture and its market rhythms both lean that way, with Katsina style facades on some of the older buildings near the centre. The Grand Marché is genuinely large, handling produce and manufactured goods moving between the two countries in volumes far beyond local need. There is very little arranged for an ordinary visitor here, and the whole town works purely as commerce. The Nigerian border lies close by but is not one to be treated as a routine crossing given the security climate on that side.