THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 112.622 square kms (43,484
square miles)
Population: 6 million
Capital City: Porto-Novo (population
200,000), commercial capital Cotonou
(population 750,000)
People: Fon and Adja (40%), Yoruba
(12%), Barba (9%), Betamarib (8%),
about 40 other ethnic groups
Language(s): French (official), Fon,
Yoruba, other ethnic languages
Religion(s): Indigenous beliefs (35%),
Christian (35%), Muslim (30%)
Currency: Franc CFA
Major political parties: Renaissance du
Benin (RNB), Parti du Renouveau
Democratique (PRD), Parti Social
Democratique (PSD), Union pour le
Benin du Futur (UBF) ( a coalition of
parties known as 'The Presidential
Movement')
Government: Democracy
GEOGRAPHY
The Republic of Benin is bordered on
the west by Nigeria, on the east by
Togo and to north by Burkina Faso and
Niger. From a coastline of about 100
kms on the Gulf of Guinea, it extends
inland about 650 kms to the Niger
River. The coast is a straight sandbar,
backed by lagoons. Rivers flow into
these lagoons, and Lake Ahémé and
Nokoué are estuaries of large rivers
whose exit to the sea is obstructed by
the sand-bar. North of Lake Nokoué
the river Ouémé has a wide marshy
delta.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Recent History
Following two coup attempts in 1988,
popular discontent came to a head
during 1989, with prolonged strikes by
teachers and civil servants, many of
whom had not been paid since 1988.
Kérékou allowed a Sovereign National
Conference, which drew up a new
constitution and provided for
multi-party elections, but remained as
President and head of the Armed
Forces. The conference also
designated Nicéphore Soglo, an
ex-World bank official, as Prime
Minister, and an interim civilian
government was appointed. This has
been described as Sub-Saharan
Africa's first 'civilian coup', whereby a
single-party government, backed by
the military had been forced to hand
over power to a multi-party
democracy. The conference also
passed a resolution to change the
country's name to 'The Republic of
Benin', which came into force in 1991.
In March 1991 Kérékou was defeated
at the polls for the Presidency by
Soglo and he retired without any
resistance. The avowed aim of the new
(technocratic) government of
President Soglo was to rebuild the
economy, after years of misallocation
of resources. On 1 April 1991 a freely
elected multi-party National Assembly
was inaugurated with 20 parties
sharing 64 seats.
The 1995 legislative elections, contested
by 30 parties were generally calm and
fair although allegations of fraud meant
that elections in 13 constituencies had
to be rerun. Soglo's supporters found
themselves in a minority in Parliament.
Presidential elections took place in
1996. The first round on 3 March gave
M Soglo a narrow lead over M
Kérékou (34.9% - 34.1%), although
neither had the 50 % necessary to
prevent the second round. Third placed
Adrien Houngbedji (17%) subsequently
announced his support for M
Kérékou, and as widely predicted, the
Constitutional Court announced on 24
March that M Kérékou had won with
54% over M Soglo's 46%. There were
reports of 'general satisfaction' with
the electoral process. There was a
good turnout (86% in the first round,
78% in the second). After some
tension, and suggestions that M Soglo
would not hand over, President
Kérékou was sworn in on 4 April
1996. M Houngbedji was rewarded with
the post of Prime Minister.
In May 1998 M Houngbedji resigned,
together with the other three
Ministers from his Democratic Renewal
Party (PRD). The PRD had been the
biggest single party in the government
coalition. M Kérékou created a new
government without PRD
representation. Alliances within the
National Assembly remained fluid after
Houngbedji's resignation. This does not
appear to have disrupted the business
of the National Assembly to any great
extent. Following the 1990 Assembly
elections, the opposition held the
majority of seats.
Longer Historical Perspective
Little is known of Benin's pre-colonial
history. According to oral tradition, a
group of Adja migrated east during the
11th or 12th century and founded the
village of Allanda. Allanda became the
capital of Great Ardra, which reached
the peak of its powers in the 16th
century. The kingdom was later split
into three, with other capitals at
Ajatche (later to become Porto Novo),
and Abomey. The Abomey group
organised into a strongly centralised
kingdom, Dahomey.
In 1472 the Portuguese were the first
Europeans to visit the country. Slaves
became the region's primary export,
hence the region's old name of the
Slave Coast. Islamic merchants
controlled much of the slave trade, and
the Allarda kingdom also raided
neighbouring kingdoms for slaves. By
1700, about 20,000 slaves were being
transported annually. During the 17th
century, the Dahomey split from the
Allarda kingdom, with the help of
European contacts and cannon. They
came to dominate the region, and
pushed its borders as far as Nigeria to
the east. This brought them into
conflict with the powerful Yoruba
kingdom of Oyo, which captured
Abomey in 1738 and forced Dahomey to
pay annual tribute until 1818.
During the 1880s, as the European
powers scrambled for African
colonies, France tried to secure its
hold on the Dahomey coast, in order to
keep it out of German or British hands.
They defeated the Dahomey king in
1893 and established a protectorate.
Between 1895-98 the French added the
northern part of present-day Benin,
and in 1904 Dahomey (as it was then
known) became a part of French West
Africa. It became a self-governing
republic within the French Community
in December 1958, and an independent
state on 1 August 1960.
Dahomey's first president was Herbert
Maga, a respected statesman, who had
been elected to the French parliament
in 1951 and served as a junior minister
of labour in the French cabinet before
returning to Benin. However, economic
troubles led to unrest, and the armed
forces under General Christophe Soglo
overthrew the government in 1963. He
installed a civilian government, led by
Sourou-Migan Apithy, M Maga's
erstwhile Vice-President (a
south-easterner). Unrest in the north
led to military intervention in
December 1965 and the return of
General Soglo. He was in turn
overthrown by a coup led by
Lt-Colonel Alphonse Alley, which placed
Justin Ahomadegbé (a
south-westerner who had served
under Apithy) in power. Regional
rivalries led to three successive
military-supported coups between
1967-70. Finally in May 1970 a
three-man presidential council was
established, consisting of MM Maga,
Ahomadegbé and Apithy. Each member
was to lead the country for two years.
The first hand-over, from Maga to
Ahomadegbé, was successful, but the
military again intervened in October
1972. Major Mathieu Kérékou, who
had been M Maga's aide-de-camp in
the 1960s, proclaimed himself
president. The triumvirate were
imprisoned until 1981, after which they
were exiled.
He established a ruling military council
containing equal numbers of army
officers from the three main regions,
and declared Dahomey a
Marxist-Leninist state. In December
1975 the country was officially
re-named the People's Republic of
Benin, to underline its break from the
colonial past. Banks and financial
institutions were nationalised, and a
single ruling party the Parti de la
Révolution Populaire du Bénin (PRPB)
was established.
Social and economic difficulties dogged
the country, and by the 1980s the
government began to replace its
socialist philosophy with approaches to
the West. Western private investment
was encouraged, and relations with
France improved in 1981 following the
election of Francois Mitterrand to the
French Presidency. By 1986, the
worsening crisis had forced Kérékou
to approach Western countries and the
IMF for help with aid and debt
rescheduling.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US$ 2.2 billion (1999)
GDP per head: US$ 380
Annual Growth: 5.3%
Inflation: 9.8%
Major Industries: Cement, Cotton, Palm
Oil, Agriculture
Major trading partners: Nigeria,
France, China, Brazil
Exchange rate: Ł1 = 1005 CFA
(January 2003)
Benin, poor in natural resources, is
traditionally a trading nation and its
economy is heavily dependent on the
success of its much larger neighbour,
Nigeria. Benin is hugely dependent on
its import/export trade with the
latter. A large part of the economy is
based on the re-export of goods to
Nigeria. During the 1980s, the economy
went into serious decline as a result of
unfavourable prices for its primary
exports and the effects of the
government's collectivisation and
nationalisation measures. This was
made worse by the devaluations of the
naira which seriously damaged Benin's
trade with Nigeria. This process was
exacerbated by the decline in the
Nigerian economy. The economy
remains fragile and largely dependent
on international aid, with inadequate
agricultural diversification (cotton is
the only major export crop – it
accounts for over 80% of Benin's
official exports and 40% of GDP), and a
production base which is too narrow
(cement is the only major industrial
product).
The CFA devaluation of January 1994
came as a shock to most Beninois. M
Soglo, as an ex-World Bank official,
clearly supported devaluation, and
attempted to commend the move to his
own people, holding public meetings
with the unions and market traders.
Public reaction was calm. Although
unionised labour forms a minority in
the country, it is heavily concentrated
in the crucial urban areas.
President Kérékou has continued with
his predecessor's pragmatic economic
policies in close consultation with the
World Bank and the IMF. There has
been progress towards transparency
and accountability in government, with
the establishment of a Constitutional
Court, empowered to try members of
the government including the President
and a public declaration of President
Kérékou's assets. Twenty-eight of
the country's 83 magistrates are at
present in jail on corruption charges.
The agriculture sector in Benin
contributes 34% of GDP and employs an
estimated 55% of the labour force. The
largest exports (in value) are cotton,
cotton seed and palm oil.
Benin is one of the first countries to
benefit under the framework of the
debt initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC). It will receive around
$460 million in debt relief.
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