Benin: Romuald Wadagni received by Diomaye Faye against the backdrop of West African reconfiguration.

Beninese President Romuald Wadagni was received on June 9 in Dakar by Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, as part of the second cycle of a regional tour that began less than two weeks after his inauguration on May 24. Visits to Mali and Guinea-Bissau took place on the same day.

Arriving around 10 a.m. at Léopold Sédar Senghor Military Airport, Wadagni was honored with a warm welcome from Diomaye Faye before meeting with him privately in the honor lounge. The discussions were later extended at the Palace of the Republic, according to the Senegalese presidency, which indicated that they focused on strengthening bilateral relations, economic and financial cooperation as well as security and political challenges in West Africa. No formal agreement or joint public statement had been communicated by the afternoon of June 9.

A first cycle had previously taken him successively to Niger on June 2, to Burkina Faso on June 2 and 3, to Nigeria, to Togo, and then to Côte d’Ivoire on June 4, where he had a private audience with Alassane Ouattara, with no joint statement issued after their meeting, according to the specialized site Africapresse. In Niamey, he was greeted at Diori Hamani International Airport by the Nigerien head of state, General Abdourahamane Tiani.

The themes announced for this second cycle focus on strategic partnerships in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and digital technology, as well as regional integration issues. No specific agreement or public agenda had been communicated prior to departure.

A restored dialogue with three countries with different diplomatic situations

The three stops on June 9 present distinct stakes. In Senegal, Wadagni will be received in a context of unprecedented institutional restructuring: since the appointment of Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo on May 22 and the election of Ousmane Sonko as president of the National Assembly on May 26, the country is experiencing a cohabitation between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his former ally who has become the head of Parliament.

In Mali, the visit carries a particularly symbolic dimension. The Malian foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop represented Colonel Assimi Goïta at Wadagni’s inauguration on May 24, affirming Bamako’s willingness to “build a bilateral relationship based on respect for sovereignty.” Mali officially left ECOWAS along with Burkina Faso and Niger in July 2025 to form the Confederation of Sahel States (AES/CES), significantly altering the diplomatic landscape of the sub-region.

Guinea-Bissau, which Wadagni is visiting as the first foreign presidential visit since the coup on November 26, 2025, that ousted elected President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, represents the most sensitive stop of the cycle. The country is led by a military junta whose international recognition remains partial.

Beninese positioning between two blocs

Wadagni’s tour reflects a diplomatic line established since his inauguration speech, where he stated: “In a sub-region faced with terrorist peril, we are condemned to work together.” Benin, a member of ECOWAS, had experienced a deterioration of its relationships with Niger and Burkina Faso after the coups in 2023 and 2022, particularly regarding the port of Cotonou, which is Niger’s main maritime outlet and whose traffic had been significantly reduced during the diplomatic crisis.

By visiting the three AES countries within the first ten days of his presidency, Wadagni signaled a break from the isolation strategy advocated under Patrice Talon. The visit on June 9 to Mali, which withdrew its recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in April 2026 in favor of a rapprochement with Morocco and whose security cooperation now relies on the Russian group Africa Corps, is the diplomatically most significant action of this cycle.

The next step in the Beninese diplomatic calendar has not been communicated by the presidency at the time of publishing this dispatch.