Failed military coup in Benin. Does good governance have a chance in West Africa? How should we assess the 10-year presidency of Patrice Talon, who will not be standing for re-election next year? What are Benin’s economic, social and cultural prospects?
Early Sunday morning, December 7, the media reported that a group of military men had occupied Benin’s national radio station and declared President Talon deposed. There was fierce fighting around the presidential palace. A few hours later, however, it was clear that the coup attempt had failed and that most of the coup plotters had been arrested. The majority of the military remained loyal, but also received support from the Nigerian air force.
Many observers are now wondering whether the path to military governments in West Africa is unstoppable after the coups in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger. The coup leaders cited dissatisfaction with the fight against Islamist terrorists in northern Benin and with the presidency of Patrice Talon as the reason for their action. In the upcoming presidential elections in March 2026, it is becoming apparent that one of Talon’s closest associates and confidants, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagui, will succeed him. Many members of the opposition are not happy about this.
Benin is not an island of the blessed. Although the inflation rate is low at less than 3% per year, Talon’s rigorous tax policy, which has also affected large parts of the informal sector, is not only met with approval. With a fertility rate of still 4.4 children per woman, there are also many young, now often well-educated people in Benin who have difficulty finding an adequate job, although many new jobs have been created during Talon’s presidency. In Benin, too, there is sympathy for the military coup leaders in the Sahel, who supposedly want to create a completely new system and free themselves from “dependence” on Europe and France.
How should we assess Patrice Talon’s 10-year presidency?
Patrice Talon, born in 1958, is a self-made man. After studying in Senegal and France, he successfully built up a trade in agrochemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) in Benin. His biggest customer was the cotton sector, in which Talon then gradually became involved and bought up a large proportion of the cotton ginning plants (some of which had been privatized). This was followed by commitments in port handling, etc. At the beginning of this millennium, Patrice Talon had become the richest man in Benin. He initially supported the candidacy of his predecessor Boni Yayi twice. When the latter sought a third presidency, contrary to Benin’s constitution, Patrice Talon withdrew Boni Yayi’s support. Boni Yayi then accused Patrice Talon of attempting to assassinate him and forced Talon into exile in France. Several close associates of Talon ended up in prison. After a few years, the charges were dropped and Patrice Talon was able to return to Benin.
In 2016, Patrice Talon then ran for president himself and won the run-off election. Upon taking office, Patrice Talon launched a comprehensive programme for the economic, social and cultural modernization of Benin during his 10 years in office.
The state apparatus was streamlined, incompetent and corrupt civil servants were dismissed, services were digitalized and civil servants’ salaries were increased at the same time. Massive investments were made in the construction of roads, hospitals and schools. Free school meals were introduced for 1.6 million pupils and health insurance for all was introduced.
In the cotton sector, which was completely run down by his predecessor Boni Yayi, he managed to triple cotton production in 3.4 years thanks to clever incentives and privatization. At the same time, agricultural production of staple foods is also booming. Talon is also focusing on processing the raw materials produced in the country. A factory for de-hulling cashew nuts and two integrated textile factories have been set up in a newly established industrial free zone. In total, 11,000 industrial jobs have been created by private investors with state support, which is a lot for Benin.
All of these investments were made possible by a clever financial policy. Savings in the administration’s water head went hand in hand with a systematic broadening of the domestic tax base. This improved Benin’s credit rating and allowed Finance Minister Wadagui to refinance himself cheaply and on a very long-term basis on the local capital market in the UEMOA zone as well as internationally through Eurobonds. At 54%, the proportion of debt to GDP is below that of the Federal Republic of Germany. New borrowing is below 3%. And while Benin’s economic growth was hovering at around 3.5% before Patrice Talon took office, it increased to around 7% per year under Talon. Even in the coronavirus year, economic growth was still 3.5%. This growth is well above the African average and was achieved despite the fact that neighboring Nigeria – Benin’s most important trading partner by far – is weakening economically and although world market prices for cotton – the country’s main export product – were relatively low, except for short periods of time.
However, Patrice Talon has also set remarkable accents in terms of cultural policy. One focus was the repatriation of cultural assets looted during the colonial era, which have now found a worthy exhibition venue in the newly built museum in Abomey.
The bottom line is that Benin has made great progress in economic and social policy under Talon in the last 10 years.
Was economic progress bought with an authoritarian style of government?
Patrice Talon visited President Paul Kagame in Rwanda at the beginning of his term of office because he wanted to learn from him. Rwanda has developed massively under Paul Kagame. At the same time, Paul Kagame is known for his authoritarian style of leadership. Opposition is hardly allowed and freedom of the press is severely restricted. This is justified with the argument that a resurgence of ethnic conflicts between Hutus and Tutsis must be prevented at all costs.
The situation in Benin is not comparable in this respect. There were and are no bloody ethnic conflicts there. Unlike Rwanda, Benin does not intervene militarily in neighboring countries. Instead, Benin had a very diverse party landscape with dozens of parties and presidential candidates, many of which were organized along ethnic lines. This system was largely dysfunctional. Patrice Talon therefore fundamentally reformed the party system during his first term of office. Only parties that could demonstrate significant representation at local level across the country were admitted to the elections. This fundamental reform led to the opposition parties boycotting the parliamentary elections during Talon’s first term of office. Since the second term of office, the largest opposition force, the “Democrats”, which is also supported by ex-President Boni Yayi, is once again represented in parliament with a quarter of the seats and is also heavily critical of the government, as are parts of the free press.
At the end of his second term in office, Patrice Talon has announced that he will not run for a third term. This sets him apart from many of his presidential colleagues in Africa and also from Paul Kagame. He need have no fear of being prosecuted for corruption or abuse of power. The current Finance Minister Romuald Wadagui is a candidate with the training and stature to continue the successful work of Patrice Talon. The fact that Wadagui comes from Talon’s closest circle is now sometimes cited as an argument that the upcoming presidential election is not democratic. In fact, in March 2026, the people of Benin will most likely be able to decide very freely between 4 candidate teams. And Wadagui will certainly not achieve 98% approval.
Conclusion
If you take the development in the majority of African countries as a benchmark, Benin has made remarkable progress under the leadership of Patrice Talon. Parts of the population and young people in particular are nevertheless impatient, have higher expectations and expect faster progress from a radical upheaval of the current system. The sobering results of the military governments in the Sahel, but also the actions of the newly elected government in Senegal, show that this calculation cannot work.
It is therefore to be hoped that Benin can continue its growth and reform course under Patrice Talon’s successor and that the restructured democratic institutions will consolidate. And Patrice Talon is certainly an excellent candidate for the prize for good governance in Africa awarded by Mo Ibrahim.
Cover photo: Patrice Talon, President of the Republic of Bénin, sits next to Claudine Talon, Première Dame of Bénin, at an official ceremony on August 1, 2018. Source: “DEFILE” by Présidence de la République du Bénin, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; https://flic.kr/p/28kAbTM
