Agriculture, between cotton and cashew nuts
Today, agriculture still accounts for some 25% of GDP. Food crops (yams, cassava, potatoes, maize, millet, sorghum, cowpeas, and groundnuts) ensure relative food self-sufficiency, but generate very little cash income because of the small size of farms. On the other hand, cotton, which is grown mainly in the north and east, and to a lesser extent in the center, is more lucrative and provides more than 75% of export earnings. Another industrial crop is cashew nuts, which are exported to India and Pakistan. As for the oil palm, which was the basis of the trading economy during the colonial era, it is today only important in the family farms of the South, where women use the palm nuts to make red oil. Finally, artisanal fishing provides a small export stream of shrimp.
An industry dominated by... cotton
Industry is a slow-growing sector in Benin and is still limited to a few cement factories, cotton ginning plants, and small businesses producing consumer goods, such as water in Possotomé. It will contribute about 23% of GDP in 2021, thanks in particular to record cotton production. This figure is rising sharply, but remains low compared to the tertiary sector. While the limestone of Onigbolo (used in the manufacture of cement) is exploited, other deposits are still not sufficiently developed, such as the iron of Lombou-Lombou, the gold of Perma, the phosphates of Mékrou...
Long live white gold! In Benin, cotton is the main resource. About half of the population lives from its cultivation. A crop that generates nearly 40% of jobs in rural areas and represents 45% of the country's tax revenue in 2021. A year that saw Benin become the first African producer, while it was still only4th in 2016. And the sector is coming back even further. With a long tradition in the country, production fell considerably between 1995 (600,000 tons of seed cotton produced) and 2010 (195,000 tons), its lowest level ever.
Then, with the creation of Sodeco (Société de développement du coton), the State partially privatized the industrial tool of Sonapra (Société nationale de production agricole). Sodeco is not only responsible for purchasing seed cotton, ginning and selling by-products, but also for improving yields and, downstream, for processing finished products. These changes have led to a significant recovery in production, which reached 230,000 tons in 2013. Since the election of Patrice Talon in 2016, who made his fortune in cotton, the Association interprofessionnelle du coton (AIC) has made a comeback and factories have returned to the private sector. After the 450,000 tons in 2017, production has reached... 728,000 tons in 2021!
A very dynamic service sector
In Benin, the tertiary sector accounts for 52% of GDP (in 2021), thanks mainly to the Autonomous Port of Cotonou, which concentrates a large part of the country's economic activity. It is a real hub and a maritime entry (and exit) point for neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria. These trade flows are considerable. Trade with Nigeria, most of which is unaccounted for because it is informal, accounts for a large share of GDP. Contrary to what foreign trade statistics suggest, Nigeria also exports petroleum products, electrical and electronic equipment, fabrics, etc. to Benin, mostly clandestinely. Very common in West Africa, this phenomenon is, in Benin, almost palpable. On almost every street corner, one can see large glass bottles filled with gasoline smuggled in from Nigeria, either by lagoon or by road. Even if the government, by easing the formalities, has pushed gas stations to multiply on the roads. But prices remain higher and the choice is therefore quickly made for most motorists.
Transformations and future prospects
The election of Patrice Talon marked a political break. Throughout the country, construction sites are multiplying, roads are being created or renovated, and the face of Benin is radically changing. But the political landscape is also changing. While there were more than 200 political parties at the time of Talon's election, the president changed the electoral code to reduce them, which has resulted in the gradual extinction of the opposition. In the 2019 legislative elections, only two lists, both favorable to the Beninese president, are on the starting line. Talon thus gained parliamentary support in an election that drew just 23 percent of Beninese to the polls (down from 75 percent in 2015). The lowest turnout in the country's history. In 2021, he was re-elected with 86.30% of the vote in the first round. It must be said that, following a constitutional revision, the sponsorship of at least 10% of deputies and mayors was required to be able to run. Elected officials almost all of whom are committed to the presidential cause.
While political upheavals regularly shake public opinion, the government continues to reform and launch projects.
One of the challenges in the coming years will be to develop agriculture. It must be said that Benin has an immense potential that remains to be exploited, as today barely 25% of arable land is exploited. This need has been reinforced by the war between Russia and Ukraine, since Benin used to buy 100% of its wheat from Russia before the conflict.
On the industrial side, projects are also underway. For example, 45 km from Cotonou, a public-private partnership has enabled the future opening of the Glo Djigbé industrial zone (GDIZ), scheduled to open at the end of 2022. "This special economic zone is designed to be a modern industrial park that meets the highest environmental and social standards. It is intended to provide services to various industries, making it an integrated multi-sectoral zone focused on the agribusiness industry around the local processing of cashew nuts, pineapples, shea nuts and soybeans, as well as local cotton into textiles," explained Laurent Gangbes, Director General of Benin's Investment and Export Promotion Agency (APIEx).
Tourism, a real axis of development
Although growth has been quite strong in recent years, the standard of living of the population has not really improved. Population growth remains high. It should be noted that the minimum monthly salary in Benin is 40,000 CFA francs (barely 60 €) and that very often it is not even respected... Benin belongs to the group of "least developed countries" (LDCs, 46 countries including 33 in Africa). To remedy this situation, tourism and the promotion of Benin's history and culture have been among the priorities of Patrice Talon's government since the first months of his first term.
For there was much to do. After a long period of isolation, Benin had already opened up somewhat to tourism. But the hotel and tourist infrastructure (travel agencies, domestic transport) was limited and unevenly distributed throughout the country.
The Talon government has therefore taken matters into its own hands to revitalize this sector by launching major projects. The South African NGO African Parks took over the management of the Pendjari Park (and its infrastructure) in 2017, before recovering that of the W Park in 2020.
In the south of the country, a major project to clean up the lagoon at Ganvié began in 2018 and Club Med will open an Eco-Resort on the Fishing Road, towards Avlékété. Construction should start at the end of 2022. An opening that should be accompanied by the creation of an underwater dike to limit erosion and make the coastline swimmable at that location. With 330 rooms planned and a golf course on 25 hectares between the sea and the lagoon, this promises to change the tourist face of the Fishing Road. A Fishing Road that has already been paved for half and should be entirely, from Cotonou to Ouidah soon. As a result, beaches, bars and restaurants have multiplied in the rapidly expanding Fidjrossè district. Ouidah will now be only a few dozen minutes away from Cotonou. And the historic city promises to have changed a lot by then. The Portuguese Fort, which is closed and undergoing restructuring at the time of writing, will be home to the International Museum of Memory and Slavery (Mime) at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023. A brand new 662 m² museum that will aim to think about the slave trade "from the African point of view". Also in Ouidah, the Governor's House, just renovated, will host the 26 royal treasures of Abomey returned by France at the end of 2021, 129 years after their theft, and initially exhibited with great pomp in the presidential palace. They had been looted by the French colonial troops of General Alfred Dodds. And it is the first important restitution of this kind to an African country. On the tourism side, the stages of the Slave Route will be better promoted. Otherwise, in the administrative capital Porto-Novo, the construction of a Museum of Vodoun Arts and Civilizations is planned. There is also talk of a museum in Abomey, while in the North, the reconstruction of the royal palace of Nikki or the construction of an arena for the Ganni Festival have been envisaged. In short, these are major projects that will have a lasting and positive impact on the sector.
