Benin: Corinne Amori Brunet hosts five accredited mission heads in Cotonou

The Beninese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Corinne Amori Brunet, held an audience on June 5 with five diplomatic representatives accredited in Benin, according to a statement from the ministry. These discussions, marking one of the first formal diplomatic sequences of the minister since taking office on May 26, focused on prospects for bilateral cooperation and unspecified common interest topics mentioned in the statement.

Among the heads of mission received was the dean of the diplomatic corps accredited in Benin, the ambassador of Morocco, Rachid Rguibi. He has held this protocol rank for several years, with precedence granted by convention to the diplomatic representative who has been in the host country the longest. Appointed to Benin by King Mohammed VI in 2016, Rguibi holds a higher management diploma from ISCAE and has previously held several positions within the Moroccan administration, including as chief of staff to the minister responsible for the development of the Saharan provinces and as an advisor to the Prime Minister.

The minister also spoke with the ambassador of Belgium, Sandrine Platteau, the ambassador of France, Nadège Chouat, the ambassador of China, Zhang Wei, and the chargé d’affaires ad interim of the U.S. embassy, Shane Dixon. The latter has been leading the American mission since March 7, 2026, in the absence of a sitting ambassador – a vacancy that falls within the context of the Trump administration’s diplomatic appointment policy, which led to the freezing of several ambassadorial positions in the sub-region.

Open Diplomacy of the Wadagni Government

These audiences are part of the diplomatic sequence initiated with the inauguration of President Romuald Wadagni on May 24, 2026. In less than two weeks, Wadagni has made official visits to Nigeria on June 1, Niger on June 2, and Côte d’Ivoire on June 4, choosing his immediate neighbors and major regional powers as the first destinations of his mandate.

France, Belgium, and the United States are among Benin’s main bilateral donors. China, represented by Zhang Wei among the minister’s interlocutors, is leading several infrastructure projects in the country. Morocco, represented by the dean of the diplomatic corps, has signed several cooperation agreements in recent years in the fields of training, infrastructure, and football.

Corinne Amori Brunet, 41, is the first woman to head the Beninese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Franco-Beninese, she was the first woman appointed as Benin’s ambassador to France, a position she held from July 12, 2023, until her appointment as minister. In her inauguration speech, she structured her mandate around three axes: strengthening Benin’s presence in multilateral institutions, deepening bilateral relations, and modernizing consular services.