A native of Iférouane in Agadez Region and an ethnic Tuareg,[1] Rafini was Minister of Agriculture in the late 1980s and Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly of Niger from 2004 to 2009.

[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Brigi Rafini was born in 1953 in Iférouane in the Agadez Region, part of the Colony of Niger in French West Africa.

He was a member of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) during the time it was the unitary party (1989–1991), left to join the breakaway faction that became the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANDP) during the democratic Third Republic (1993–1996), and helped form the ruling Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP-Jama'a) party during the presidency of Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (1996–1999).

He has since been reported to have formally joined the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), elected to power in 2011.

[4][12] When Mahamadou Issoufou, who won the January–March 2011 presidential election, took office as President on 7 April 2011, he promptly appointed Rafini as Prime Minister.