Timbuktu Institute October 2026 - Week 1

After the territorial gamble of organising Benin into six development hubs, the State is continuing to strengthen its public action, which also depends on its capacity to mobilise the resources needed to finance its ambitions over time. As the country seeks to consolidate its infrastructure, broaden access to essential services and support employment, the use of mechanisms combining concessional financing, international guarantees and private capital reflects a desire to scale up public investment while limiting the State’s financial exposure. Cotonou thus recently announced that on 18 September it had concluded a financing operation of around CFA 328 billion, with the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Development Fund (ADF). With a twelve-year maturity, the operation benefits from a partial guarantee from the ADF and second-loss insurance provided by the insurance arm of the Islamic Development Bank. The envelope is intended to support several priority sectors: health, education, access to water, infrastructure, renewable energy and agriculture, as well as the professional integration of young people and women. For Robert Masumbuko, head of the AfDB country office, the aim is to “mobilise capital market resources on a large scale”. The mechanism, already used with Benin in 2023, seeks to reduce the risk borne by lenders in order to attract long-term private capital.

At the same time, this capacity to raise resources is accompanied by a more visible determination to regain control over certain parts of the territory and the economy. In the Mono department, Prefect Bienvenu Milohin led, on 29 September, an inspection operation of quarries in the communes of Houéyogbé and Comé. Several sites were still being operated even though their permits had expired. The irregular works were halted and local authorities were called on to play a greater role in monitoring. The approach, under way since 2021, also has a social dimension, as young people employed in these informal quarries are being encouraged to turn to the Azôli programme.

Tracking down clandestine networks

However, this reassertion of control is not limited to natural resources. It also extends to markets more directly linked to security and public health. In Parakou, in the Borgou department, two successive seizures revealed the scale of clandestine ammunition networks. On 28 September, the Republican Police intercepted 3,250 12-gauge cartridges hidden in bags carried on a motorbike. The next day, in a wooded area of the Danmambou neighbourhood, an anonymous tip-off led police officers to a cache containing a further 1,975 cartridges. These two operations bring to more than 5,200 the number of cartridges seized in a few days in the same city, following other interceptions in Bétérou and on the Bétérou-Djougou road. While investigations have yet to establish the origin of the ammunition, its intended recipients and the possible ramifications of these networks, the repeated seizures give the issue particular weight. They are a reminder that securing the territory is not only about identified threats at the borders, but also about the logistical channels that feed clandestine economies inside the country.

The same concern for control appears in a less directly security-related area with the seizure in Massè of 37 kg of counterfeit medicines. The operation made it possible to trace the chain from the transporter to an alleged supplier, who is still wanted. Here again, behind a one-off offence lies the broader question of product traceability and of public services’ capacity to monitor networks that operate outside regulated channels. It is in this context that the strengthening of the anti-human trafficking system should be seen. On 2 October, the United States announced funding of 250,000 dollars to improve victim follow-up, through tools handed over to the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Implemented by UNODC, the system notably includes a standardised questionnaire, a methodological guide and a national referral mechanism designed to better coordinate the interventions of security, justice and social welfare actors. The choice of common tools reflects another form of consolidation of public action: better knowing the victims and following up cases becomes a condition for the system’s effectiveness. More broadly, the desire to strengthen national capacities also extends to the international stage. Speaking at the 81st United Nations General Assembly on 28 September, Benin advocated an approach based on security cooperation, multilateralism and respect for international law. In the face of cross-border threats, Cotonou emphasised coordination between States and diplomatic dialogue. In this light, the operation with the AfDB appears to be part of a drive to consolidate the economic and social capacities that can give public action greater traction. Development financing, the fight against clandestine economies and security cooperation thus appear as different facets of the same ambition: to extend the State’s effective presence while strengthening the means at its disposal to act.