Oumarou Ganda (1935 – 1 January 1981) was a Nigerien director and actor who helped bring African cinema to international attention in the 1960s and 1970s.
Rouch was interested in the Nigerien community in Côte d'Ivoire and hired Ganda as a statistician for his research on immigration.
He continued making films throughout the 1970s, many of which received international acclaim and were vehicles of social commentary in what was then a single party state.
In addition to his dramatic films, Ganda completed several documentaries and was working on one at the time of his death of a heart attack on January 1, 1981.
Among his posthumous honors, a major cultural center, performance, and library complex in Niamey, Le Centre Culturel Oumarou GANDA (C.C.O.G) was named for him in 1981, shortly after his death.