Benin in 2008

Benin in 2008

Area: 112,622 sq km (43,484 sq mi)
Population (2008 est.): 8,295,000
Capital: Porto-Novo (executive and ministerial offices remain in Cotonou)
Head of state and government: President Thomas Yayi Boni

On March 7, 2008, ministers from Benin and Burkina Faso reached agreement on lowering tensions in a 68-sq-km (26-sq-mi) border area claimed by both. Meeting at Porga in northern Benin, the delegations agreed that neither would attempt to establish sovereignty over the disputed region and that joint border patrols would operate to maintain security.

On February 16, U.S. Pres. George W. Bush began his five-nation tour of Africa in Cotonou, where he received the Grand Cross of the National Order of Benin from Pres. Thomas Yayi Boni. Local elections held on April 20 gave the presidential party, Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin, control of 66% of municipal councils. Former president Nicéphore Soglo’s Benin Renaissance Party retained control in the capital.

On March 5 a joint study conducted by the UN in conjunction with the Ministry of the Family and Children revealed that more than 40,000 children, 93% of whom were Beninese, were trafficked in 2006. The government vowed to stop the trade and give aid to its victims.

Throughout the year, prices of basic foodstuffs rose sharply, more than doubling in the case of some commodities. Despite the government’s May 1 removal of the value-added tax on food, consumers saw little improvement. Consequently, trade unions planned protest marches calling for higher wages. On July 15 President Yayi responded by calling for “economic patriotism” and wage restraint to help resolve the crisis. Violent crime against small businesses increased alarmingly as small-arms weaponry was readily available through local manufacturers or smugglers. Although the production of cotton, Benin’s major export crop, rose by 12% and GDP was expected to achieve a growth rate of 7%, the explosion of global food and energy prices had offset economic progress.

by: Nancy Ellen Lawler