Benin’s ex-finance minister sworn in as president

The former finance minister of Benin, Romuald Wadagni, officially became the country’s president on Sunday, taking over from his predecessor — and ex-boss — Patrice Talon.

Wadagni, an economist with a reputation as a technocrat who embodies continuity with Talon’s two mandates, was elected on April 12.

He won 94 percent of the ballots, easily beating his sole token opponent, Paul Hounkpe. Hounkpe’s party quickly joined forces with Wadagni’s party in the parliament.

The main opposition party, the Democrats, was not able to participate in the elections because of insufficient endorsements and internal rifts.

“I will serve Benin with integrity, courage and commitment,” Wadagni said at his inauguration. “I will serve with the constant knowledge that power is never a personal privilege.”

Wadagni takes up the reins of a west African country that has enjoyed a decade of robust economic growth, but where a huge wealth gap persists. The country also suffers from insecurity in its north due to attacks blamed on jihadist groups.

The 49-year-old has a seven-year term before him, after a constitutional reform last year extended the presidential mandate from a previous five years.

A president can serve a maximum of two terms.

Under Wadagni’s 10-year stint as finance minister, Benin’s public finances were cleaned up and the deficit cut by a third to reach three percent of GDP.

Wadagni emphasised that, on top of his economic skills, he would tackle the violence in the north, attributed mainly to Al-Qaeda’s Sahel branch, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

“Benin will not give in to fear nor complacency. The government will be firm against all those who threaten our unity and security,” Wadagni said.

One of his tasks will be to try to stabilise previously fraught ties with its two junta-ruled neighbours, Niger and Burkina Faso, which are battling Islamist militant groups seeking to expand in the region.

On Sunday, Niger’s prime minister, Ali Lamine Zeine, attended Wadagni’s inauguration to applause, in a sign of detente.

“I believe that it’s a new path that is opening … The most important is to work towards strengthening relations and find a way that we can work together,” Zeine told journalists.

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