“Work isn’t paid for in Benin; it’s politics that gets paid,” Kassa Mampo makes a comparison with France.

In a comparative table, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Workers in Benin (CSTB) has juxtaposed the salaries of high-ranking Beninese political officials with the national minimum wage, before extending the analysis to France. The exercise, presented by Kassa Mampo, reveals a wage gap that deeply questions the model of work valuation in Benin.

According to the figures put forward, a Beninese minister reportedly earns about 8 million CFA francs per month, which is 153 times the Beninese minimum wage. By comparison, in France, a minister’s salary is estimated at 7,015,000 CFA francs, while the Prime Minister’s salary is 10,520,000 CFA francs. When compared to the French minimum wage set at 969,462 CFA francs, these amounts represent a ratio of between 7 and 10 times the minimum wage, far from the proportions observed in Benin.

The imbalance is just as pronounced among parliamentarians and prefects. According to the CSTB, Beninese deputies and prefects earn on average 5 million CFA francs per month, which is 96 times the minimum wage. In France, a deputy earns about four times the minimum wage, an disparity that is incomparable to the situation in Benin.

From this comparison, Kassa Mampo draws an unequivocal conclusion: “work is not paid in Benin, it is politics that is paid.” A brutal phrase, but one that summarizes the discomfort raised by these figures. Behind the amounts lies the question of the hierarchy of salary values: what does the Beninese state really reward? Productive effort or political function?

This debate, reignited by the publication of these data, goes beyond mere international comparison. It touches on the social contract, the dignity of work, and the credibility of a system where the minimum wage struggles to meet essential needs, while the top political echelon benefits from salaries that are unrelated to the country’s economic reality.