The narrow strip of land of today’s Benin, bordered by mostly larger neighboring states, hardly suggests the cultural and artistic importance of the former Dahomey during its history as a monarchy.
Porto-Novo – The bronzes from Benin have recently been mentioned more and more frequently in the media, but many Europeans still know little about the origin of the impressive works of art. Benin was a monarchy for over three hundred years, which among other things drew its income from trade.
Benin: The splendid history of today’s developing country
The modern state of Benin was granted independence from France under the historic name Dahomey in 1960. In fact, today’s Benin is only a relatively small remnant of the earlier kingdom, which expanded from western Nigeria to today’s Ghana from the 17th century onwards. The Dahomeys kings came from the immigrant ethnic group of the Adja and enjoyed not only secular power, but also cultic veneration.
The prosperity of Benin was based on the one hand on the taxation of flourishing agriculture, and on the other hand, and above all, the income from the slave trade, which was initiated through contact with Europeans. The monopoly on trade was in the hands of the monarch alone. You can get an idea of the former greatness of Benin when visiting the royal palaces in the former state capital Abomey or when looking at the famous Benin bronze sculptures. The bronzes were stolen from the royal palaces by the colonizers and are now distributed in museums all over the world.
French colony from the early 19th century
Dahomey or Benin lost its independence when Napoleonic troops, coming from Senegal, occupied the country in 1805. During the following decades, Benin remained largely under French sovereignty, even if the colony was ceded to Great Britain for a few years from 1814. From 1890 onwards, the French combined their West African colonies under the name of French West Africa and got rid of the last king of Dahomey by being exiled to the Caribbean. The territory remained under the influence of France during the two world wars, enjoyed the right to vote and had members of the French parliament until independence in 1960.
The newly created Dahomey subsequently went through an eventful period of more than ten years. Major Mathieu Kérékou came to power in a military coup in 1972 and ensured that the People’s Republic of Benin was now organized according to the Marxist-Leninist model. It was not until 1975 that the country was renamed Benin. Due to the increasing political and financial withdrawal of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, Kérékou decided to change course and introduce a multi-party system, so that Benin is now considered a successful democracy. The kings only have a sacred representative function.
Benin: geography and demography of the state
A glance at the map shows that today’s Benin also owes its borders to the colonial powers. The borders with Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria run almost as if drawn with a ruler. The north of the country is characterized by swamps and remnants of tropical forest, the common national park lies on the border with Niger and the Atakora Mountains on the border with Togo.
The savannah landscape in the heart of Benin is now mainly used for agriculture. Two forms of agriculture can be distinguished here:
Subsistence Farms:
Plantation economy:
- Coconut palms
- Oil palms
- Cashews
- cotton
- pineapple
- cocoa
- coffee
Benin is one of the most important West African cotton producers, but this production plays a minor role in the world market. In addition to agriculture, there is also cattle breeding, mainly by the nomadic Fulbe. The country’s climate is tropical, with one rainy season in the north and two in the south.
Extreme poverty and great challenges
According to the Statista portal, the population of Benin was estimated at around 12 million people in 2020 – that is not much compared to neighboring Nigeria, but the population has quadrupled since 1980 and it will continue to grow exponentially. Benin is not homogeneous, but comprises different ethnic groups such as the Yoruba and Adja, the Fon, the Bariba, Fulbe and Dendi. According to information from the Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development from 2020, around half of the people in Benin live in poverty. Two thirds of the Beninese work in agriculture, often at subsistence level.
Medical care is still not at a desirable level, child mortality is high, and life expectancy averages 61 years. Education can also be expanded: despite free elementary schools and increasing participation, more than 40 percent of people are illiterate, women and girls in particular often drop out of school prematurely.
Benin: weakly growing economy in the developing country
The state of Benin has achieved consistent economic growth for years, but the gross national product is still very low, it was around 15.7 billion US dollars in 2020. This makes Benin not only a developing country, but one of the poorest countries in the world. The per capita income is low, the economy is burdened by the large informal sector, around two thirds of the people work in agriculture.
Benin exports products such as cocoa and coffee, as well as cotton and palm oil, and the country benefits from the favorable location of the port of Cotonou, which is an international hub for goods. Industry is poorly developed, although Benin has mineral deposits such as lime, but also diamonds. The privatization of important companies, which has not yet been implemented on a large scale, is a stumbling block for economic development.
Benin and the Politics of the State: Democracy with a Wide Range of Parties
International observers describe the democracy in Benin as largely successful. Until the constitutional amendment in 1990, the West African state was governed as the People’s Republic of Benin under the influence of the Soviet Union. The introduction of a party system from the late 1980s onwards resulted in more than 80 parties running for elections in Benin today – although non-party candidates can also hold the office of president.
In April 2021, the incumbent President Talon was confirmed in the upcoming elections and started a new term of office. Despite alleged irregularities in the course of the elections and the limitation to only three presidential candidates, many citizens were willing to give Talon a second term. The re-elected president is considered a modernizer, he comes from a family who made their fortune by growing cotton.
Challenges for the future
The government of Benin presented a development plan in early 2019 that aims to drive the country’s growth and address economic, ecological and social challenges. The growth plan is based on the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations and a comparable plan of the African Union. The aim is to reduce poverty by almost half by 2025, and by then the supply of clean, potable water and access to electricity will be a concern for the majority of the population.
The expansion of the education system and the health system is also one of the urgent tasks of politics. Child mortality is around nine percent, life expectancy is low and tropical diseases are common. In addition, the country’s ecosystem needs more attention to protect the remaining tropical forest against excessive logging, to cope with air pollution and uncontrolled waste disposal and to solve the problem of overfishing of coastal waters. Sponsored by the USA and European donors, the so-called Songhai training centers were set up to establish sustainable agriculture in all areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is also involved in this area with its “Integrated Production and Pest Management” (IPPM) program, which shows farmers the way to sustainable land management.
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