Benin: Romuald Wadagni shifts direction in intelligence services

This change in denomination is not merely an administrative adjustment. It reflects the authorities’ willingness to equip the country with a better-structured, more agile intelligence service that is increasingly adapted to contemporary security, diplomatic, and strategic challenges.

In a regional environment marked by persistent terrorist threats, cross-border trafficking, and hybrid risks, the strengthening of the DGS is part of a strategy of anticipation and enhanced protection of national interests.
This reform is accompanied by continuity at the top of the new entity. Captain Orphée Hounkanrin, who was previously the director of the DSLD, has been appointed as the general director of the General Directorate of Services. This choice aims to ensure stability, strategic coherence, and the capitalization of the experience gained within the former system.

The DGS is entrusted with expanded missions, focused on protecting the higher interest of the Nation, strengthening ethics, loyalty, and good governance within the services, as well as modernizing the operational capacities of the State in the face of internal and international threats. The stated goal is to have a more efficient intelligence tool capable of acting with discretion, effectiveness, and professionalism in an increasingly complex security context.

With this reform, the executive power is sending a clear signal: national security remains a strategic priority. The transformation of the DSLD into the General Directorate of Services illustrates the ambition of building an intelligence apparatus that meets current and future challenges, in service of the stability and sovereignty of Benin.