Cairo, Rabi Awwal 30/Jun 11,2002 (IINA) – Sheikh Ibrahim Shuaib, who is president of the Islamic Unity and Solidarity Foundation in Niger, has said that his is a Muslim country, and was in ancient times pars of the Muslim empires of Barnu and Kanim. He said Islam dawned on Niger in the year 600 AH, and has grown from strength to strength, to the extent that the majority are now Muslims, and they keenly follow the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, and also keen on spreading the Arabic language. He said that there are three challenges facing Muslim in Africa: ignorance, poverty, and Christian missionary activity, which, he said, takes advantage of the people’s poverty and their ignorance of their own faith in enticing them to convert to the Christian faith. He added that missionary activity has began to bear fruit, simply because the majority of the people are poor and they lack proper knowledge of their faith. He said there are 10,000,000 people in Niger, of whom 96 percent are Muslim, and called upon Islamic organizations to intensify their efforts and give support to the brethren in Africa.