Benin – Lifting of the ban on the export of food products: the government’s explanations
The government spokesperson, Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, defended this Friday, July 4, 2025, the lifting of the ban on exporting food products. During a press conference held in the premises of the newspaper Le Béninois Libéré, he clarified the choices made by the executive in terms of food security, local industrialization, and economic governance.
Revisiting the genesis of this measure, Wilfried Houngbédji reminded that it was never a definitive ban, but a temporary and time-bound suspension. Implemented in 2023, this decision mainly aimed to ensure the supply of industrial units installed in the Glo-Djigbé economic zone, while securing the domestic market.
“When we announced the ban, it was neither formal, nor timeless,” he said, emphasizing that the government’s ambition is to promote local processing of agricultural products. According to him, exporting the entirety of the harvest without fueling national factories would be tantamount to sabotaging efforts to create jobs and strengthen the country’s economic sovereignty.
The spokesperson also highlighted the regulatory efforts carried out through the port of Cotonou, which allow for better tracking of outgoing flows and ensuring that taxes and duties due to the state are effectively collected. The control of exports therefore also falls within a logic of transparency and fiscal fairness.
Responding to the protests of some merchants against the relative drop in prices offered on the local market, Wilfried Houngbédji reminded that the government heavily subsidizes agriculture. He cited the 26 billion CFA francs mobilized for the current agricultural campaign, estimating that this contribution justifies that the production primarily serves the national interests.
“It would be irresponsible to let everything go to export when the injected money comes from all Beninese people,” he argued. He also wanted to specify that the prices are set by the agricultural interprofessions, and not imposed by the State.
The government is thus calling for economic patriotism. For Wilfried Houngbédji, foreign buyers who offer high prices do so with the certainty of maximizing their gains through industrial transformation in their own countries. He denounces in this practice a form of structural dependence, even “industrial imperialism”.