Heni Nsaibia on Benin’s elections after deadliest year of conflict

This Sunday, just four months after a failed coup attempt, Benin headed to the polls in a closely watched election shaped by rising security threats and a constrained political landscape.

Heni Nsaibia, West Africa Senior Analyst at ACLED, said: 

“The vote comes after the country experienced its deadliest year of conflict on record in 2025, with an attempted coup in December highlighting underlying political fragilities at a critical moment for the country. Previous jihadist spillover has also increasingly taken on domestic dimensions, with militant entrenchment in three northern regions that now form part of a new frontline in the Benin, Niger, and Nigeria borderlands.

“A stable transition in Benin is important not only for the country itself but also for the broader West Africa region, given the political instability caused by successive coups in the Sahel. It is therefore especially necessary to focus efforts on stabilizing the north, preventing further upheaval, and demonstrating a model of stability for the broader region.”