H.E. Mr. Andre Sanra, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to India

Excerpts from the face to face interview with H.E. Mr. Andre Sanra, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin to India Benin bilateral relations.

ANA: Thank you Excellency for giving us the opportunity for conducting the Face to Face interview. For the benefit of our readers, could you say a few words about the transition of your country from military rule to democracy following its independence from France in 1960?

H.E.: First and foremost, allow me to extend my sincere gratitude to you for given me the opportunity to speak to the many readers of your prestigious magazine, “News behind the News”. Benin gained its independence on August 1st, 1960 and has then experienced only a short period of democratic regime.

Indeed, right in October 1963, a military coup made the country fall into a chronic political instability that would last until the military coup of October 26, 1972. This military takeover would establish in power a military regime which, later on, would set a Marxist-Leninist direction to the country till February 1990.

Thus, after more than seventeen (17) years of military Marxist-Leninist regime, the country turned the page, thanks to the Conference of the Vital Forces of the Nation. All the political exiles and members of the Diaspora had been invited to attend the said Conference held in February 1990. That was the return to Democracy, to political pluralism and mainly the rejection of the Marxist-Leninist ideology.

Since then, Benin has become an example of Democracy in Africa, where local, MPs and presidential free and fair elections are held on a regular basis and bloodless alternation in power, set as the order of the day.

ANA: President Yayi was re-elected in 2011 and has completed a term as President of the African Union. We understand in 2007, he survived an ambush and recently there was a failed coup attempt. Other than individuals, who is behind these attempts? Is there a larger sinister plan to replace him?

H.E.: Doctor Boni YAYI was elected President of the Republic of Benin in 2006. He has been re-elected in 2011 in the first ballot, after having completed a five (05) years term of office, in compliance with the Benin Constitution of 1991.

I think that the ambush you are referring to occurred in 2008, in a region of the country where” road blockers” used to operate in flocks; I mean the armed highway bandits who would hijack cars and rob passengers of everything they are carrying. Since the incident occurred in that region, the public opinion, in those days, attributed it to highway robbers.

Recently and more precisely this year, President Boni YAYI has been the victim of a poison attempt. Given the fact that the attempt failed, some relatives of the accused thought they could resort to a military coup to achieve their despicable intention.

Benin people and their army are nowadays mature enough to reject military coups. In Benin, we are more and more moving away from that era when money could buy our soldiers’ consciences. In present times, our country is endowed with a republican army, committed to the cause of Benin People. However, some elements may have been led astray. Vigilance is of the essence.

It is worth underscoring that Doctor Boni YAYI has not come to overstay in power. The Constitution of Benin, one of the most democratic in Africa, provides that any President of the Republic elected by universal suffrage will enjoy a five (05) year term, renewable only once. Since 1991, we have experienced three transfers of power at the State House of the Republic of Benin.

President Boni YAYI repeatedly said it and confirmed the same, no article of the Benin Constitution relating to the election of the President of the Republic as well as the term of office thereof, will be tampered. Since 2006, he was deeply concerned with the struggle for the well being of the Benin population and the said battle is bound to involve the combat against corruption.

As you may easily imagine, combating corruption, mainly in Africa means making numbers of enemies. Obviously, the threat is set by those who rose up against such combat and who lately, pledge to physically get rid of President Boni YAYI. But God and the Population stand by the Benin Head of State, and this support causes the misfortune of his enemies.

ANA: Bilateral relations between India and Benin really started looking up after President Boni Yayi’s visit to India in March 2009. Five agreements were signed during the visit. Excellency, have these agreements made a difference to the bilateral relations?

H.E.: Since the historic State visit by President Boni YAYI to India, from March 03rd through 07th, 2009, the bilateral relations between Benin and India kept on evolving positively.

As you rightly mentioned, five (05) Agreements and Protocols were signed during the said visit to strengthen the cooperation foundations between the two (02) countries.

The aforementioned Agreements have actually contributed towards a further consolidation and development of the Benin-India ties in many areas.

That was, for example, the case of the Agreement on the establishment of the Benin –India Joint Cooperation Commission that has met for its first Session in October 2009, just some months after the Agreement was signed. The Honourable Minister Shashi TAHRUR, Head of the Indian delegation at the said Session, was accompanied by an impressive number of Business men.

The Agreement on political consultations provided our two (02) countries with the opportunity to confer and support each other, mainly at the United Nations level.

Other Agreements or Protocols directly connected with the daily economic life of the Benin populations are still being implemented in areas of agriculture, energy, Its, etc..

Therefore, the above Agreements have had and are still having a positive impact on the bilateral relations between Benin and India.

ANA: What are the political and economic expectations of Benin from India – a country that is emerging as a major economy with vital interests is Africa?

H.E.: As you can easily guess it, Benin political and economic expectations vis-à-vis India are many.

As a developing country, Benin longs to become an emerging country in the decades ahead. Obviously, India as an emerging country or a country that has already come to the fore as a great economic power is the example to follow by many African countries in general and Benin in particular.

Likewise any African country, Benin yearns for development. As matter of fact, development process requires beforehand number of trained senior executives in any areas, good command of latest high technology, execution of tangible projects that are indispensable for grass root populations etc. Presently, following the example of many developing countries, Benin looks towards a number of countries, including India. The Indian experience in that regard serves as a model for us.

Nowadays, we expect much from India whose reliable and affordable technology could enable us to achieve such a dream, known as development.

ANA: What role do you envisage of your country in India’s effort to establish a foothold in Africa?

H.E.: You might be amazed by my answer: To be honest, I am of the view that my country Benin, likewise any other African country, has no role to play in India’s effort to establish a foothold in Africa.

By way of its humanistic policy geared to assist African countries emerge from under development; India has actually proved that they did not need any role by any African country before being able to establish a foothold in Africa. In my opinion, India has already established foothold in Africa, just because India and Africa have always walked along.

* You must remember India’s role in the Non-Aligned Movement;
* You must remember India’s role in Africa’s liberation, this being done with no compensation whatsoever. Thus, I do think that India is already positioned and well positioned in Africa. Witness, there are 42 African countries having their Embassies /High Commissions in New Delhi and very soon, this number will grow to 43 with the upcoming opening of the Embassy of Cameroon.

But on the other hand, in India’s effort to establish foothold in the United Nations as a Security Council member county, my country can play a modest but not inconsiderable role, by granting a definite support, when the time comes, to India’s candidature. My country has already, on several occasions, declared its support to India. The said support has never changed, and, in my opinion, it is bound to remain unchanged.

ANA : The growth of Indo-Benin bilateral trade has been almost 125% - up from US$ 417m in 2010-2011 to US$ 940 m in 2011-2012. Excellency, what is the vision or strategy of your country with respect to bilateral economic and trade relations with India over the next 5 years?

H.E. : The statistics given by you are impressive and they show the progress achieved by the two (02) countries (India and Benin) in the economic and commercial fields. These achievements speak for themselves and constitute the outcomes of the State visit by President Boni YAYI in India, in March 2009.

As I mentioned earlier on, President Boni aims at turning Benin into an emerging country by 2025. For that purpose, the Government of Benin decided to lay emphasis on agricultural mechanization and processing of agricultural products, in order to ensure that the agro-industry sector ranks first in Benin.

Against that background, the Program on the Development of Agricultural Mechanization in Benin was put into place, some years back. This program enables the Government to purchase, by way of Indian lines of credit, tractors in India that are, in turn sold to farmers at affordable rates.

Moreover, and still through a line of credit by the Government of India, the Government of Benin will commission in a very close future, six (06) plants meant for the processing and production of fruits juice (pineapples, tomatoes, mangoes, cashew apples and cashew nuts. The said plants are endowed with a processing capacity of 500 kg of fruits or nuts per day.

Finally, the Government of Benin has just launched the construction of a tractors and farming equipment’s assembly plant at Ouidah (42 km from Cotonou), with a capacity of 2,000 tractors per year, thanks to a Government of India Line of credit .

As you can see, Benin nowadays makes use of its relations with India as a hobbyhorse to achieve development. During the next five (05) years, the strategy of the Government of Benin will be geared towards making the economic and commercial ties with India, one of the most reliable, fruitful and cost effective ones for both Parties.

Therefore, the present trade related figures that you mentioned will further double in the five (05) years ahead because, Benin will produce more, the country will import from India more equipment’s required for its development and export more agro-industry items.

It is worth underscoring that other sectors including energy, water and health are already targeted by the Government of Benin to enjoy development projects to be achieved with the support of Benin partners and particularly with India.

ANA: We understand that health, education and governance are some of the areas where substantial improvement is needed. Excellency, is there a role for the Government of India and the small Indian community in Benin in these areas?

H.E.: Health, education and governance have always been priority sectors for the Government of Benin.

Actually, since he took office in 2006, Doctor Boni YAYI set health, education and governance at the center of his actions.

As an example of such actions and at the same time as he ordered for the construction of a large number of public hospitals and health centers, he has provided for free of cost Caesarean and health care for children aged from 0 to 5 years.

As far as education is concerned, Benin has always turned its full attention to the subject. As matter of fact, over its population estimated presently at about 9 million inhabitants, Benin boasts almost 47% of children from 0 to 14 years. This shows that the Benin population is relatively young and is endowed with a significant potential of manpower, likely to back up investments.

In the area of training of quality human resources, Benin ranks among leading African countries, in terms of technical and vocational training, owing to a large number of public and private colleges, institutes and schools using modern technology and competing with each other with a view to producing well trained executives according to international standards.

Hence, in relation to the size of its population, Benin ranks among African countries boasting a very high percentage of qualified executives on the African continent.

However, in the above listed areas, the Benin Government efforts are still inappropriate. That is the reason why, assistance by the development partners from the private sector to the Government has always been welcomed and commended. The Government of India and the small Indian Community in Benin (between 1000 and 1500 individuals) have a role to play in the said sectors and they are already largely playing such a role.

Actually, each year the Government of India grants short term training scholarships to Benin civil servants in many areas. Despite the fact that Benin is a French speaking country, it would be advisable that Benin young people be granted higher education scholarships by the Government of India, so as to undergo training sessions in India. For the time being, this is not the case. As far as the Indian Community leaving in peace in Benin is concerned, they do participate in the development of their host country.

This Community established an International Indian School for Indian children. The Government of Benin would really welcome the Indian Government and private sector’s participation in the development of universities, institutes and schools in Benin, in order to enable Benin young people derive the most from India’s great experience in the Information Technologies.

ANA : Your comments on the content of News behind the News would be highly appreciated?

H.E. : “News behind the News” , to which the Embassy of Benin subscribed early this year is a reference magazine for any diplomat posted in India.

Through its weekly analysis, ‘’News behind the News” provides its readers with a better understanding of the social, political and economic news in India ,on the one hand and that of the relations between India and its neighbouring countries , on the other hand. A more focus of the Magazine on the relations between India and Africa would certainly be commended by the 42 African Embassies/High Commissions based in New Delhi.

Long live and all the best to “News behind the News”
Andre SANRA