Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 km2 (44,310 sq mi), and its population in 2021 was estimated to be approximately 13 million. It is a tropical country with an economy heavily dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton.
Abomey-Calavi is a city, arrondissement, and commune located in the Atlantique Department of Benin. It is now essentially a suburb of Cotonou and at its closest it begins approximately 18 km from the city centre of Cotonou. The main cities of the commune are Abomey-Calavi itself and Godomey to the south. The commune covers an area of 650 square kilometres and as at the May 2013 Census had a population of 655,965 people. Projected to be the eleventh fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.27% growth.
Thomas Boni Yayi is a Beninese banker and politician who was the president of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the March 2006 presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in March 2011. He also served as the chairperson of the African Union from 29 January 2012 to 27 January 2013.
The University of Abuja, also known as UofA or UNIABUJA is a public university in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. It was established in January 1988 as a dual-mode university with the mandate to run conventional and distance learning programmes. Academic work began at the university in 1990 with the matriculation of its pioneer students.
Benson Idahosa University (BIU) is a private, Christian university in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Previously named Christian Faith University (CFU), it was renamed in honor of Archbishop Benson Idahosa, a Charismatic Pentecostal minister from Benin City, Nigeria, and reflects his evangelical beliefs. He was the first president of the university. The current president of Benson Idahosa University, Rt. Rev. (Dr.) Faith Emmanuel Benson Idahosa, son of Benson Idahosa, is the Bishop of CGMi Faith Arena and Co-ordinator, Next Generation Leadership of the Church of God Mission.
The University of Abomey-Calavi(French: Université d'Abomey-Calavi) is the principal public university in the west African country of Benin. The university is located in the city of Abomey-Calavi in the south of the country.
Moussa Okanla was a Beninese scholar and diplomat. Okanla was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government named on 17 June 2007, and was replaced by Jean-Marie Ehouzou on 22 October 2008.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Benin:
Benin has abolished school fees and is carrying out the recommendations of its 2007 Educational Forum. In 2018, the net primary enrollment rate was 97 percent. Gross enrollment rate in secondary education has greatly increased in the last two decades, from 21.8 percent in 2000 to 59 percent in 2016, 67.1 percent in the case of males and 50.7 percent for females. Because of a rapid increase in the enrollment rate, the student/teacher ratio rose from 36:1 in 1990 to 53:1 in 1997 but has dropped again in the last years to 39:1 (2018). In 2018, the gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education was 12.5%.
Leonard Wantchekon is a Beninese economist and professor of Politics and International Affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and an affiliate of the Economics Department at Princeton University. He taught at Yale University (1995–2001) and New York University (2001–2011). He is the founding director of the African School of Economics, which is based in Benin. His study with Nathan Nunn on the impact of slave trading on modern-day trust is among the most-cited studies in economics.
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. Fletcher is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations. As of 2017, the student body numbered around 230, of whom 36 percent were international students from 70 countries, and around a quarter were U.S. minorities.
The University of Science and Technology of Benin is a private university in Benin, whose headquarters are located in the district of Kpondéhou in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin.
Veritas University is a private university located in Abuja. It was founded in March 2002 by the Catholic Church in Nigeria. The Institution received its provisional operation licence in 2007 from the National Universities Commission and commenced admission of students in October 2008, at its take-off campus in Obehie, Abia State, Nigeria.
Marcel Alain de Souza was a Beninese politician and banker. He served as President of the ECOWAS Commission from April 2016 until February 2018. He was Minister for Development, Economic Analysis and Forecast of Benin from May 2011 until June 2015.
Marie-Cécile Zinsou is a French-Beninese art historian and entrepreneur, She is president of the Fondation Zinsou, founded in 2005 in Cotonou, Republic of Benin which promotes contemporary art in Africa and leads cultural, educational and social initiatives. In 2014 she opened the first museum of contemporary art in Benin.
Hounkpati B Christophe Capo is a Beninese linguist, and professor of linguistics at the University of Abomey-Calavi in the Republic of Benin.
Obadiah Mailafia was a Nigerian development economist and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential election Candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC). He was a former official of the African Development Bank Group and one-time Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He was also the Chief of Staff of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the 79-nation multilateral development institution based in Brussels, Belgium.
Alexis Bertrand Agunmaro Adandé is an archaeologist from Benin, who has been key to the foundation of the discipline in the country.
Brigitte Affidehome Tonon is a Beninese researcher, author former basketball player and head coach of Benin men's national basketball team. Having coached Benin at the regional 2017 FIBA AfroBasket qualifiers, Tonon became the first woman in Africa to coach a men's national basketball team.
