Benin
Benin's Talon takes tough line after re-election win
His remarks showed little sign of reconciliation after the former cotton magnate won 86.3% of the votes in Sunday's election when he faced two little-known...
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Ballot counting under way after tense election in Benin
The vote itself was largely peaceful in the West African nation once praised as a vibrant democracy, but critics have accused Talon of rigging Sunday's ballot by sidelining opposition leaders.
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Benin tense as president seeks re-election
Benin was once praised as a vibrant democracy in an often troubled region, but most opposition leaders are either in exile, were disqualified by electoral reforms, or have been targeted for investigation by a special court.
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Feared and revered: Patrice Talon, Benin's 'King of Cotton'
But critics say Talon has skewed Sunday's elections in his favour - another alarming tilt towards authoritarianism, they charge, in what was once a vibrant multi-party democracy.
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Benin troops clear protesters as Talon eyes re-election
Protests have erupted in opposition bastions in the West African country ahead of Sunday's vote, which critics says is tilted in Talon's favour.
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Protests break out in Benin before election
Tensions erupted in at least six towns around the West African country, local residents and witnesses said, ahead of Sunday's ballot in which Talon is strongly favoured to win a second term.
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Nigeria lifts closure of borders with Benin and Niger
The unilateral move was criticised for violating commercial and freedom of movement treaties signed under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
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Activists face fines for trying to 'return' African art in France
Since President Macron's pledge, France has returned a ceremonial sword to Senegal and promised to return 26 dozen works to Benin, including a royal throne, that were seized by French troops in the late 19th century.
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Benin restores slavery monuments to testify to brutal past
During the 17th and 18th centuries, European slavers held more than one million African men, women and children in Ouidah's Portuguese Fort before shipping them across the Atlantic in abominable conditions.
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Benin tests teachers for virus ahead of school restart
The West African nation of 11 million is set to end six weeks of travel restrictions to key cities and allow some students back to classrooms from Monday.
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Benin parliament vows amnesty and reform to try ease crisis
National Assembly president Louis Vlavonou announced an 'amnesty' for 'all those who are implicated in the events following the legislative elections... so that they can find their liberty and peace'.
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Why age gives West African women more autonomy and power
In some West African communities, age and magico-religious beliefs have a huge role to play in a woman's independence.
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Nigeria closes part of border with Benin to check rice smuggling
The government wants Nigeria to be self-sufficient in rice and has imposed import controls but these have kept prices high and led to smuggling.
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Factories are no longer the sure route to prosperity. Here's why
For pineapple producers in Benin, better branding, marketing, and packaging opens the doors to regional and international sales far more lucrative than selling unprocessed fruit in local markets.
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Interpol rescues dozens of child slaves from markets in West Africa
Many of the children were working in markets peddling goods, carrying heavy loads or fetching water, while others worked as housemaids or were forced into prostitution, Interpol said.
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Benin eyes video gaming in play for jobs and development
Accountants PwC said in 2017 the value of Africa's video game industry would more than double to $642 million by 2021.
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'Nigeria's border with Benin will help cut smuggling, fraud and corruption'
President Muhammadu Buhari flew in by helicopter to cut the ribbon at the Seme-Krake Joint Border Post this week with his Beninese counterpart Patrice Talon.
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Nigeria and Benin make a new break for the border
President Muhammadu Buhari flew in by helicopter to cut the ribbon at the Seme-Krake Joint Border Post this week with his Beninese counterpart Patrice Talon.
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Naming names: Countries that made a change
Many countries changed their names at independence, most often from ones imposed by their colonisers.
