Trip to Benin Republic

On the 17th of July 2020 we took a trip to the West African country of Benin Republic on Booktrovert. Our tour guides for the trip to Benin Republic were,

Yabo, born in the historical city of Benin named Danhomey (nowadays Abomey). A Research Assistant at the African School of Economics, and David Agoungbome, a Researcher in Climate Science.

Benin is in west Africa. It’s bordered to the East by Nigeria, to the west by Togo, to the North West by Burkina Faso, to the North East by Niger.

Benin has a coastline of 121 km and is flat from the south to the center of the country. The north of the country is however strewn with hills and small mountains. We have an animal reserve called Pendjari Park and we also have waterfalls. The most famous is the fall of Tanougou.

Population: There are over 12 million people living in Benin and the country is officially considered a developing country. Its capital is Porto-Novo located in the south-east

Benin was colonized by France so the official language is French. Besides that, we have a bunch of local languages and we often categorized them into 9 groups: Adja and related, Bariba and related, Fon and related, Yom and related, Yoruba and related, Betamaribe and related. The most spoken language is Fon.

There are two types of religions in Benin: endogenous religion or animism or Vodun and imported religions such as Islam, Catholicism.

Benin’s presidents are elected democratically every 5 years. The power is divided in 3: the executive power, the legislative power, and the judiciary power. After independence in 1960, the country has so far been leaded by 11 presidents. Our current president’s name is Patrice Talon. He was a business man.

In my opinion, there is no best president. They all have flaws and positive points in the way they lead. Some choose social in order to be reelected, some choose capitalism and work to boost the macroeconomics aggregate. But the wealth distribution is always unequal. So, many people are poor and few people are rich.

Benin is a peaceful country and Vodun is a religion like any other religion.

Angelique Kidjo, the world celebrity singer is from Benin.

Covid 19 in Benin Republic

The first confirmed case in Benin was a business man who came from Burkina Faso by flight. The Government response was to locate people the business man has been in contact with in order to isolate them. Then, the number of cases started to increase until we had our first death. Right after the death, the government did a mapping that allowed them to isolate some cities (where the risk is high to catch the covid-19) from the rest of the country. It was a partial lockdown and minimum service was decreed. Few months later (about 3), lockdown was up and local elections were held. Right after elections, the country received a lot of testing equipment and the confirmed cases in the country increase as well as the death. Many advertisements are done on measures such as the respect of social distance, wearing masks and washing hands regularly. Government has subsidized formal small businesses which were close during the partial lockdown.

Arts and Enterment

* Music

Angélique Kidjo: 5x Grammy Awards,Kora Music Awards, UNICEF Ambassador. She started music since 6 and she is now 60 years. Iconic figure and world class celebrity, she is known as one of the most famous singer in Africa. singer-songwriter, actress, and activist for Women rights. In 2007, Time magazine called her "Africa's premier diva". She is married and has one daughter.

Lionel Loueke: World class Jazzman

The movie industry is not developed like in countries like Nigeria, but we have some groups that produce for local consumption. However, one Beninois is well known for his participation in famous movies.

Djimon Hounsou: Beninese actor and model. He played key role in the following movies: Stargate (as Horus), Gladiator (as Juba), Blood Diamond (main actor, Solomon Vandy), The Legend of Tarzan movie (as Chief Mbonga), Guardians of the Galaxy (as Korath the Pursuer), Amistad (as Joseph Cinqué), Fast and Furious 7.

He won many awards Golden Globes Awards, Screen Actors Guild, Black Reel Awards, NAACP Image Awards.

It is also worth to mention that the black women warriors in the movie Black Panther is inspired from the Women Amazon Warriors from Dahomey, one of the old kingdom in Benin Rep.