Brigi Rafini is a Nigerien politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Niger since 2011. A native of Iférouane in Agadez Region and an ethnic Tuareg, Rafini was Minister of Agriculture in the late 1980s and Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly of Niger from 2004 to 2009. He was appointed as Prime Minister after Mahamadou Issoufou took office as President on 7 April 2011.