Benin: Election raises hopes for a renewal of Niger relations

Ahead of the Benin presidential election on April 12th, there is hope that a new president could help de-escalate tensions between Benin and neighbouring Niger, according to RFI and agencies on April 8th.

Beninese voters will decide between Romuald Wadagni and Paul Hounkpè as the successor of President Patrice Talon, who experienced a failed coup attempt in December 2025.

The election result could lead to the reopening of the Benin-Niger border, which has been closed since Niger’s July 2023 coup.

Although a bus journey from Cotonou to Niamey remains possible, the journey has become longer and more expensive since 2023 due to the border closure.

Wadagni said, “We must talk to each other, we have no choice”, adding that, “We will seize the opportunity to reach out to our [neighbours] who are struggling to trust us.”

Relations have been strained since the 2023 ousting of President Mohamed Bazoum and the installation of General Abdourahamane Tiani as Niger’s junta leader.

Niger and its Sahel allies, Burkina Faso and Mali, have repeatedly accused Benin and the Ivory Coast of acting as French proxies to destabilise the Sahel, citing their continued ties with Paris.

The five West African countries are former French colonies that face a growing Islamist terrorism threat, particularly in the border region between Nigeria, Niger and Benin.

Although the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on Niamey’s Diori Hamani International Airport in January, Tchiani implicated France and its “West African lackeys” in the attack, but provided no evidence to support these allegations.

Niger had been a Western ally in the Sahel prior to July 2023, with Bazoum being a pro-Western president; he remains in detention at the presidential mansion in Niamey, alongside his wife, Hadiza.

This is despite an EU resolution that called for Bazoum’s release by April 2nd, which would have officially marked the end of his presidential term.

Sahel leaders condemned the resolution, which is also supported by several West African governments, as external interference and argued that the resolution undermines Sahel sovereignty.

Anti-Western sentiment has grown in the Sahel, with around 1,000 people gathering in Niamey on March 22nd to demonstrate against European demands to release Bazoum and his wife from detention.

RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org