Benin | Council on Foreign Relations

West Africa

Preventing Conflict in Coastal West Africa

The Global Fragility Act allows the United States to encourage greater stability in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Togo over the next ten years, argues Eric Silla, though it will be contentious and require high-level diplomacy.

Report by Eric Silla August 25, 2022 Center for Preventive Action
Benin

Benin's Democracy Continues its Downward Spiral

Benin has been something of a poster child for African democracy following its move away from Marxism–Leninism after the collapse of the Soviet Union. No longer. On paper, Benin is a constitutional d…

Blog Post by John Campbell April 30, 2021 Africa in Transition
France

Art Protests Shine Spotlight on Post-Colonial Restitution Question

Mwazulu Diyabanza, a Congolese-origin activist in France, first attracted social media attention by seeming to steal an artifact from the Quai Branly Museum in Paris to protest slavery, colonialism a…

Blog Post by John Campbell September 25, 2020 Africa in Transition

Nigeria

Buhari Orders Land Borders Closed in Long-Running Effort to Boost Rice Production

In August, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered closed Nigeria’s land border with Benin, preventing the import of goods. The move significantly affected trade in foodstuffs, which had already been affe…

Blog Post by John Campbell October 17, 2019 Africa in Transition
Benin

Confronting Africa's Role in the Slave Trade

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani has written a sensitive essay, published in the Wall Street Journal, on the African role in the trans-Atlantic and trans-Saharan slave trade. She observes that the four-hundred…

Blog Post by John Campbell September 26, 2019 Africa in Transition
Terrorism and Counterterrorism

Coastal West Africa Now Facing Islamist Extremist Threat

Adam Valavanis is a former intern with the Africa Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. He received a master’s degree in conflict studies from the London School of Economics and Political Scie…

Blog Post by Guest Blogger for John Campbell September 4, 2019 Africa in Transition

France

Macron Leads Renewed Calls for Return of Looted African Artifacts

A report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron recommends that France should return to Africa art and artifacts held in French cultural institutions. It characterizes the collections as pa…

Blog Post by John Campbell November 28, 2018 Africa in Transition
Sub-Saharan Africa

African Development Revisited

This is a guest post by Owen Cylke. Mr. Cylke is a development professional and a retired senior foreign service officer with USAID. A spate of press articles over the past several months speculate …

Blog Post by Guest Blogger for John Campbell May 7, 2013 Africa in Transition
Nigeria

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

A U.S. Navy boat patrols the waters of Nigeria's Lagos harbour, March 24, 2009. (Akintunde Akinleye/Courtesy Reuters) Such has been the increase in piracy that London-based insurers Lloyd’s Market A…

Blog Post by John Campbell August 17, 2011 Africa in Transition