Benin

The two main contenders in April’s presidential election – both regional bankers – are evenly matched but for now the balance of support favours the incumbent, President Thomas...

Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, the Governor of the regional Banque ouest-africaine de développement, this week officially launched his bid for April’s presidential election in Benin. This had been long...

In another desperate attempt to win over some opposition supporters to his ineffectual coalition, President Thomas Boni Yayi announced a ministerial reshuffle on 22 October. Yet the horse-trading...

Intense pressure from domestic opinion and from the European Union - which threatened cuts in aid and promised US$4 million towards the $6 mn. election budget - persuaded...

With one eye to politics after President Mathieu Kérékou departs, a significant proportion of notables are standing in the country's first communal and municipal elections which, after several...

Benin's Finance Minister, Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, will take over as the International Monetary Fund's Africa Department chief next month. He was once tipped as a potential prime minister...

The presidential election has turned to farce since two leading candidates pulled out of the second round of voting claiming fraud. President Mathieu Kérékou emerged from the first...

Spiralling fuel price rises, a troublesome cotton privatisation and a strong whiff of institutional corruption mean President Mathieu Kérékou should worry about his re-election fight next March with...

President Mathieu Kérékou has kept his head down amid celebrations of his overthrow ten years ago. His friends say he developed humility when he became a Catholic while...

The latest leader to succumb to the need for personal air transport is President Mathieu Kérékou, who has secured three billion CFA francs to buy a second-hand personal...