CountriesAfricaBenin

Benin

Republic of Benin

Africa

UN Member since 1960

Member of AU, NAM.

Population

13.7M

GDP

$19.0B

Capital

Porto-Novo

Government

Unitary presidential republic

Power & politics

Leadership, governance, and democratic trajectory.

Democracy index

4.6 / 10

UN voting record

How Benin votes at the UN General Assembly — ideological trajectory, voting partners, topic patterns, and key recent roll calls.

Ideological trajectory

Voting summary

No votes recorded for this period yet.

Bloc alignment

Bloc alignment data not available yet.

Top voting partners

Topic-level voting

Source: Erik Voeten, “United Nations General Assembly Voting Data”, Harvard Dataverse (CC0). Aggregated by Model Diplomat. Last refresh tracked in profile freshness.

Foreign policy

Bilateral posture, key relationships, and live diplomatic statements.

Foreign Policy

Benin maintains close ties with France, its former colonial power, and is an active member of ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). It has positioned itself as a stable partner for Western development aid and investment.

Cotonou has increasingly engaged with China on infrastructure development. Benin's foreign policy is generally non-confrontational, focused on economic development, regional integration, and countering the Sahelian jihadist threat.

Allies

MUN Delegate Guide

As Benin, emphasize your commitment to regional integration through ECOWAS and WAEMU. On security, advocate for a comprehensive approach to Sahelian terrorism that combines military action with development, education, and governance reform.

Align with the Francophone African bloc and the broader African Group. Support initiatives on debt relief, climate adaptation, and trade fairness for least developed countries. Benin is not a major power, so build coalitions and work as a consensus builder rather than a bloc leader.