Beninese diplomacy: Corinne Amori Brunet sets three priorities as she takes office.

Corinne Amori Brunet officially assumed her duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, May 26, at the ministry headquarters in Cotonou, in the presence of Benin’s ambassadors accredited to various countries, members of the public administration, and department personnel. Her predecessor, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, transferred to the Ministry of Tourism and External Trade in the same government, handed over the reins to her. In her inaugural speech, Amori Brunet structured her mandate around three axes: reinforcing Benin’s presence in multilateral institutions, deepening bilateral relations, and continuing the modernization of consular services.

The new minister emphasized the cross-cutting vocation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which she presented as “a tool at the service of all sectorial ministries.” She placed economic diplomacy at the heart of her priorities, as well as enhancing the value of the Beninese diaspora, citing the modernization of consulates, initiated under President Talon, including the launch of the ePass service for dematerialized passport renewal, as an achievement to be consolidated.

Adjadi Bakari, who had led the ministry for the past three years, was praised for opening partnerships towards new regions and continents and enhancing international mobility, before being assigned the Tourism portfolio in the same government.

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Born in 1984 in France to a Beninese mother and a French father, Jean-Pierre Brunet, Corinne Amori Brunet grew up and studied in France. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international administration and commerce from the University of Paris-Est Créteil and a master’s degree in international business management from INSEEC London-Paris. Before entering diplomacy, she dedicated over ten years to the sustainable finance and media sector, notably as Director of Strategy and Development at Novethic, a subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts France specialized in responsible finance and positive impact investing, from 2017 to 2022. She is among the seven Beninese laureates of the Young Leaders program of the French-American Foundation in 2021, recognized for her work on the rule of law, sustainable development, and economic development.

On July 12, 2023, she was appointed as Benin’s ambassador to France by President Talon, becoming the first woman and the youngest person to hold this position in Paris. She presented her credentials to President Macron on February 29, 2024, at the Élysée. She had also served as extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Benin to Spain, Portugal, Greece, and the OECD, through multiple accreditation from Paris.

The minister inherits a ministry at the crossroads of the most sensitive issues in Benin’s foreign policy. Relations with the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, remain fragile due to the closure of the Nigerien border, mutual accusations regarding terrorist infiltrations, and tensions related to the Niger-Benin pipeline. The meeting on May 26 at the presidency with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, by President Wadagni indicates that normalizing relations with the AES and the Benin-ECOWAS relationship will be among the immediate priorities of the new government.

Her dual Franco-Beninese culture, her experience in Paris, and her networks in international financial institutions (OECD, European partners) are presented by several analysts as potential assets for conducting proactive economic diplomacy, in a context where Benin seeks to maintain and diversify its external financial support while the country has been without an active IMF program since 2024.