Benin 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 3 Benin 4 Africa 5 Chapter 2 7 Political Overview 7 History 8 Political Conditions 11 Political Risk Index 25 Political Stability 39 Freedom Rankings 55 Human Rights 66 Government Functions 69 Government Structure 70 Principal Government Officials 73 Leader Biography 74 Leader Biography 74 Foreign Relations 76 National Security 79 Defense Forces 80 Chapter 3 82 Economic Overview 82 Economic Overview 83 Nominal GDP and Components 85 Population and GDP Per Capita 87 Real GDP and Inflation 88 Government Spending and Taxation 89 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 90 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 91 Data in US Dollars 92 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 93 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 95 World Energy Price Summary 96 CO2 Emissions 97 Agriculture Consumption and Production 98 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 100 Metals Consumption and Production 101 World Metals Pricing Summary 103 Economic Performance Index 104 Chapter 4 116 Investment Overview 116 Foreign Investment Climate 117 Foreign Investment Index 119 Corruption Perceptions Index 132 Competitiveness Ranking 144 Taxation 152 Stock Market 153 Partner Links 154 Chapter 5 155 Social Overview 155 People 156 Human Development Index 157 Life Satisfaction Index 161 Happy Planet Index 172 Status of Women 182 Global Gender Gap Index 184 Culture and Arts 193 Etiquette 194 Travel Information 194 Diseases/Health Data 204 Chapter 6 210 Environmental Overview 210 Environmental Issues 211 Environmental Policy 212 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 213 Global Environmental Snapshot 224 Global Environmental Concepts 235 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 249 Appendices 274 Bibliography 275 Benin Chapter 1 Country Overview Benin Review 2016 Page 1 of 287 pages Benin Country Overview BENIN Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African kingdom that rose in the 15th century. Located between Nigeria and Togo, the territory became a French colony in 1870s and achieved independence in 1960. In 1975, it changed its name from Dahomey to Benin. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the establishment of a socialist government, but social unrest and economic difficulties in the late 1980s led the country away from socialism. In 1991 elections ushered in the first popularly elected president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. Benin’s economy remains underdeveloped and is mainly based on agriculture. Despite being one of Africa’s largest cotton producers, it ranks among the world's poorest countries. Benin Review 2016 Page 2 of 287 pages Benin Key Data Key Data Region: Africa Population: 10448647 Climate: Tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north French (official) Languages: Fon and Yoruba Tribal languages Currency: CFA franc = 100 centimes Holiday: National Day is 1 August (1990), Martyr's Day is 16 January Area Total: 112620 Area Land: 110620 Coast Line: 121 Benin Review 2016 Page 3 of 287 pages Benin Benin Country Map Benin Review 2016 Page 4 of 287 pages Benin Africa Regional Map Benin Review 2016 Page 5 of 287 pages Benin Benin Review 2016 Page 6 of 287 pages Benin Chapter 2 Political Overview Benin Review 2016 Page 7 of 287 pages Benin History Little is known of Benin's precolonial history. The area of Benin was far from the movements of political struggle and market forces along the southern reaches of the Islamic empire that first opened up West Africa to the Western world. Mercantile trade and traffic was limited to dryer northern regions, where established trade routes existed between Niger and Nigerian markets, extending up into the Saharan trade routes. In the area of Dahomey, which is now known as Benin, trade was filtered through various groups, such as the Fulani, the Hausa or possibly the Mossi, who moved goods north and east to the Sahelian and Nigerian markets. Ethnic groups in this area were relatively confined to their remote forests, as trade via the sea was not very developed and fishing was mainly for subsistence. According to oral tradition of the area, a group of Adja from the south migrated east during the 12th or 13th century from Tado, on the Mono River, and founded the village of Allanda. Later, Allanda became the capital of Great Ardra, a state whose kings ruled with the consent of the elders of the people. Great Ardra reached the peak of its power in the 16th century and early 17th century. A quarrel among three brothers over who should ascend to the throne resulted in one brother, Kokpon, retaining the crown at Great Ardra. The other brother, Do-Aklin, left and eventually founded the town of Abomey. The third brother, Te-Agdanlin, founded the town of Ajatche, or little Ardra, called Porto Novo by the Portuguese merchants who started trading there. The Adja living at Abomey were organized into a strongly centralized kingdom with a standing army. They gradually mixed in with the scattered tribes that were already there, thus forming the Fon, or Dahomey ethnic group. At this point, the area was comprised of many different independent groups of people, including the kingdoms of Allada, Dahomey and Nikki. Land was plentiful, and much of the subsistence came from hunting and gathering. Not until the arrival of the first Europeans to the area did trade escalate into what was used later to coin the infamous name that plagues its coast even today, the Slave Coast. In 1472, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit the country. They traded goods and advice in the form of mercenary services for many years before the Dutch, French and English all joined them. This was mainly due to the Portuguese cutting-edge expertise in navigating the open Benin Review 2016 Page 8 of 287 pages Benin seas against headwinds, a skill required to return to Europe. Slaves became the region's primary export. The center for these activities was the kingdom of Ouidah, a segment of the Allada kingdom. Although slavery was a component of pre-colonial Benin, it was nowhere nearly as organized or vast as it became under the Europeans. The Europeans converted the social practice of slavery into a significant resource extraction. Islamic merchants mainly controlled the slave trade. It was limited by the extensive travel required to the Sahelian trade routes along the border of the Sahara. The Allada kingdom generally raided neighboring kingdoms for slaves, then sold them through coastal middlemen to European traders. By 1700, about 20,000 slaves were being transported annually, especially from Ardra and Ouida. In the 17th century, there was much rebellion among the city-states within the region of Benin. Europeans were setting up trading posts everywhere as fast as they could in an effort to gain footholds on the continent, ahead of other European countries. This lack of synchronized expansion led to a breakdown in the indigenous monarchy's control over the trade and power. The Dahomey split from the Allada kingdom, with the help of European contacts and cannons acquired from them. States were warring over access to trade and tolls. The French took a larger role in the region, and the Dahomey soon came to dominate the entire area, including the once-powerful region of Ouidah, pushing its boundaries to Nigeria in the east. The Dahomey kingdom, through its vast military power as well as a religious authority based on a royal ancestral cult, was able to unite the various peoples of the region. To establish direct contact with the European traders, King Agja of Dahomey (1708-1932), who began the legendary practice of using women as soldiers, conquered most of the south except for Porto Novo. This expansion brought Dahomey into conflict with the powerful Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, which captured Abomey in 1738 and forced Dahomey to pay annual tribute until 1818. Dahomey became the chief supplier of slaves to their European customers on the coast and its Islamic customers inland. It continued to expand northward and remained a chief supplier of slaves through its conquests well into the 19th century, despite efforts by Great Britain to end the trade. Dahomey gained great power throughout the region from its increased wealth from the export of slaves. By 1863, Porto Novo accepted French influence as a protectorate, hoping to offset Dahomey's increasing power. During the 1880s, as the scramble among the European powers for African colonies accelerated, France tried to secure its hold on the Dahomey coast in order to keep it out of German or British hands. King Behanzin, who reigned 1889-1893, attempted to resist the French advance, but in 1892-1893, France defeated Dahomey and established a protectorate over it. The French then exiled King Behanzin to Martinique. Between 1895-1898, the French added the Benin Review 2016 Page 9 of 287 pages Benin northern part of present-day Benin, and in 1904, the whole colony was subjugated as French West Africa. There were many factors that contributed to the decline of the slave trade. After the disintegration of Portuguese supremacy on the high seas along the coast of West Africa, every major European power with a navy showed interest in the region. There was a frenzy of market development and foreign tribute. An uncoordinated scramble to cordon off and establish exclusivity in trade with small, rural African kingdoms ensued. Eventually market forces fluctuated and payment or trade goods were held up for years. At times, there were no slaves, while at other times, there was a glut of slaves. There was absolutely no stability in the system. Eventually, the advent of a powerful British abolitionist movement -- and a prevailing navy to enforce the aims of the movement -- succeeded in ending the slave trade for good.