Benin in 2005

Benin in 2005

Area: 112,622 sq km (43,484 sq mi)
Population (2005 est.): 7,649,000
Capital: Porto-Novo (executive and ministerial offices remain in Cotonou)
Head of state and government: President Mathieu Kérékou

In July 2005 Pres. Mathieu Kérékou stated that he would retire in 2006 and thus scotched rumours that he planned to reform Benin’s constitution to allow him to stand for a third term in 2006.

Although the 2005 budget predicted a 5.3% economic growth rate, Benin remained one of the world’s poorest and most heavily indebted countries. On June 13 the Group of Eight summit canceled $800 million owed by the nation to the World Bank, an amount representing 63% of Benin’s foreign debt. The following day the World Bank announced a new loan of $30 million for continuation of Benin’s program of government decentralization. On August 5 the IMF announced a $9 million grant for the country’s poverty-reduction initiatives.

At a meeting held in Cotonou in May, Benin and other West African cotton producers demanded that industrialized nations discontinue export subsidies to their own growers. Falling world prices were seriously threatening domestic production in African countries.

Benin continued to participate in UN peacekeeping operations and on April 9 sent a new contingent of 102 soldiers to Côte d’Ivoire. On July 12 the International Court of Justice resolved a 45-year boundary dispute between Benin and Niger as well as the ownership of 25 islands in the Niger River. Sixteen, including Lété, the largest, were awarded to Niger. Both countries agreed to abide by the ruling.

The election on April 24 of Faure Gnassingbé as the new president of Togo prompted more than 24,000 people from that country to take refuge in Benin. With reassurances from the new Togolese government, several thousand returned home.

Nancy Ellen Lawler