Maradi is at the heart of a highly conservative, Muslim region of West Africa - so much so that their fellow Hausas across the border in Nigeria have instituted Sharia law in their communities. While the Hausa areas of Niger as well as their countrymen have resisted the urge to follow along, it wouldn't be a stretch to claim that you will meet almost nobody who will admit to you that they ever consume alcoholic beverages, and most of them are telling the truth. As a result, beer and wine are difficult to come by. However, the number of foreign nationals as well as the more moderate bureaucrats and technical workers from the western part of the country coupled with the Hausa entrepreneurial spirit as strong as anywhere you'll find means you can rest assured that when you're ready to relax with that beer, your desire can be fulfilled.
There is one liquor store in the city as of this writing that is run by a couple of agreeable gentlemen who claim to never touch their own product. It is in an unmarked, gray building with a colonnaded front walk opposite the northwest corner of the Grand Marché; facing the building, it's the door farthest to the left. Their hours are variable and unpredictable. A can or bottle of beer might be 600-700 francs $1.25; a bottle of name-brand spirits costs about what it might in the states $12-30. On most days, you will be able to find a couple of types of import beer, some cheap wine, and a few bottles of low-cost, hangover-inducing French spirits Bony's, who has a line that includes gin, whiskey, and pastis among other things. You can often, but not always, often find a bottle or two of the labels you know; many of the shop's clients are foreigners, so they seem to try to keep inventory. Beefeater gin, Jack Daniel's, and Typhoon rum are common options. Braniger, the national bottler, also does sell beer, but they are the distributor for the country's restaurants: You need an account and must be willing to buy by the flat - one hopes you aren't that desperate.
In the early afternoon, your safest bets for a beer are the restaurant at the Guest House and a slightly more expensive but highly agreeable one poolside at the Club Privé. In the evening read: after sunset prayers, the bars start to open at places like the Jardin which also sells cheap spirits and liquor and the Airport, followed by Maradi's clubs around 10 or 11.
Do not get completely smashed in public in Maradi unless you have your own way home and, obviously, a driver. Many locals view drunkenness as negatively as they do drink, and this author has heard plenty of anecdotes where taxi drivers refused to carry somebody who seemed intoxicated. Nigeriens are often more indulgent of foreigners, but don't push your luck too far.
This may not be the normal sense of 'drink' in a guidebook, but as Niger is one of the world's hottest countries, it probably deserves a mention: Drink lots of fluids if you're out wandering. The street is lined with guys with refrigerators to help you meet this goal: you can get water that has historically been safe to drink in sealed and labeled plastic bags for a matter of cents you take your health into your hands if you accept water or juice in an unmarked, tied-off bag instead; you'll save a few cents but it isn't worth it. You can also find a normal array of coke products, and a few stores stock pepsi products and some local sodas that are brought up from Nigeria. Strangely, if your drink came from Nigeria it will be cheaper, and the Nigerian sodas are much cheaper; try a 'Teem', it's like Sprite and quite tasty.
