This country profile was published in November 2008 in our annual 'Africa in 2009' issue. The next edition, 'Africa in 2010' will be on sale 23 November 2009.

Click on the drop-down menu above to see Benin's Top Companies and Top Banks.

When seeking election in 2006, President Thomas Yayi Boni promised he would rule without the traditional political parties that he and some portions of the population had blamed for Benin's earlier instability and lack of economic development. The voting population supported that until the 2007 legislative elections which gave the president's Force Cauris pour un Bénin Emergent (FCBE) alliance only 35 of 84 seats in the National Assembly. Although at first other parties had often sided with the FCBE, in February 2008 several parties, with 48 seats in parliament, formed an alliance against Boni, decrying his 'dictatorial' tendencies and unwillingness to work with others.

The opposition has remained united in its demands for substantial participation in a reshuffled government. Since July 2008, Boni has been forced to find recourse in the constitution, which allows him to rule by decree if parliament becomes inoperative. He has tended to use this authority to pass legislation allowing the country to access investment deals that would have expired in the absence of legislative action. He has also put the 1990 constitution under review, saying it is out of date and unsuited to the needs of the country. Opponents see this as meddling, although Yayi has promised that the clauses relating to presidential term limits will not be touched.

Since Boni's inauguration, the government's attention has been focused on improving the cotton industry and the port of Cotonou, which channels a re-export trade to Nigeria and landlocked neighbours. The president's good governance message has won him support from the international financial institutions, which predict real GDP growth of more than 5% in the coming years. But his rhetoric has not led to prosecution of any of the most flagrant cases of public sector corruption.

Administrative and security procedures at the port - financed by part of the $397m from the US Millennium Challenge Account - have been improved though the government has clearly had difficulty finding suitable port directors. Corruption at the port remains endemic and revenues over the last few months have been subdued as ships have chosen neighbouring ports.

For the 2008/09 cotton season, the government has been forced to drop its production predictions due to poor weather and high fertiliser prices. Even though the target of 500,000 tonnes will not be met, estimated production of 310,000 tonnes is an improvement on the 268,054 tonnes produced in 2007/08. The government continues to be active in supporting production, setting producer prices and providing and subsidising inputs, and has been unable to reduce that role.

The privatisation of the state ginning company Sonapra (Société National pour la Promotion Agricole) failed in late 2007 after bidding irregularities concerning the only two bids that were submitted. Sonapra was put on the market again in September, with the hopes of richer bids. The cotton privatisation has been politically unpopular and difficult to achieve in practice, rather like the rest of the government's privatisation programme in telecoms, electricity, petroleum marketing and ports. 
Against the rising tide of fuel and food prices, the government has tried to protect the population from feeling the full impact. It has exempted many goods from customs duties and tried to control the prices of petrol and cement, to keep the country's building boom going, but this will be unsustainable in the long term.