Benin: after AES, Togo and Abidjan, Romuald Wadagni announced in Dakar, Bamako, and Bissau

The Beninese president Romuald Wadagni is making work visits to Senegal, Mali, and Guinea-Bissau on June 9, according to an announcement from the Beninese presidency. These trips constitute the second cycle of a regional tour initiated less than two weeks after his inauguration on May 24.

A first cycle had taken him successively to Niger on June 2, Burkina Faso on June 2 and 3, Nigeria, Togo, and then Côte d’Ivoire on June 4, where he was received for a private audience by Alassane Ouattara, with no joint statement issued after the meeting, according to the specialized site Africapresse. In Niamey, he was welcomed at the international airport Diori Hamani by the Nigerien head of state, General Abdourahamane Tiani.

The themes announced for this second cycle focus on strategic partnerships in the areas of infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and digital technology, as well as regional integration issues. No specific agreements or public agenda had been communicated prior to departure.

A restored dialogue with three countries with different diplomatic situations

The three stops on June 9 present distinct stakes. In Senegal, Wadagni will be received in the context of unprecedented institutional restructuring: since the appointment of Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo on May 22 and the election of Ousmane Sonko as President of the National Assembly on May 26, the country is experiencing cohabitation between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his former ally turned parliamentary leader.

In Mali, the visit has a particular symbolic significance. Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop represented Colonel Assimi Goïta at Wadagni’s inauguration on May 24, affirming Bamako’s readiness to “build a bilateral relationship based on respect for sovereignty.” Mali officially left ECOWAS along with Burkina Faso and Niger in July 2025 to form the Confederation of Sahel States (AES/CES), significantly altering the diplomatic landscape of the sub-region.

Guinea-Bissau, where Wadagni is the first foreign presidential visit since the coup on November 26, 2025, that ousted elected President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, represents the most sensitive stop of the cycle. The country is ruled by a military junta whose international recognition remains partial.

A Beninese positioning between two blocs

Wadagni’s tour reflects a diplomatic line articulated in his inaugural speech, where he stated: “In a sub-region facing the terrorist threat, we are condemned to work together.” Benin, a member of ECOWAS, had experienced a deterioration of relations with Niger and Burkina Faso following the coups in 2023 and 2022, particularly regarding the port of Cotonou, the main maritime outlet for Niger, whose traffic had been heavily reduced during the diplomatic crisis.

By visiting the three AES countries within the first ten days of his presidency, Wadagni signaled a break from the isolation strategy advocated under Patrice Talon. The visit to Mali on June 9, a country that rescinded its recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in April 2026 in favor of rapprochement with Morocco and whose security cooperation now relies on the Russian group Africa Corps, represents the most diplomatically charged step of the cycle.

The next step in the Beninese diplomatic calendar has not been communicated by the presidency as of the publication date of this dispatch.