SLIDE Speech PRESENTATOR/REMARKS

S
1 General Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honored to introduce to you the Republic of Benin. Senior Captain GAGA

2 Prolegomenon Descriptive video

3 Here is the main idea leading the whole presentation.

4 To endorse this main concept, the ongoing presentation

will follow the scope displayed on screen.

GEOGRAPHY/TOURISM

5 Geography
6 Benin is a west African country bordered by Burkina Faso,
Niger, Nigeria, the Atlantic Ocean and Togo.
7 So, what is the weather like in Benin?
In the North and the Centre, you have a tropical climate
characterized by a dry season and a rainy season.
In the South, an equatorial climate with two dry seasons
and two rainy seasons reigns.
The average temperature is 26 degrees C.
8 The terrain is slightly rugged. In the South, the ground is
flat with coconut trees…
9 And mangroves.
10 In the Centre, it is a hilly plain that rises from 200 to 400
meters to the North.
11 Finally, in the Northwest, you have the double mountain
range of the Atacora with a High Point of 656 meters.
12 …As well as waterfalls, like the one displayed.
Tourism
13 Ladies and gentlemen, Benin has very beautiful tourist
destinations.
14 The “No Return Gate” is a gate from which millions of LT BRAHI
men, women and children were deported to America and
never returned home.
15 The Amazon Place: Thirty (30) meters high, the Amazon
Monument is one of the biggest statue in Africa, attracting
millions of visitors from all over the world.
16 Benin is a country where religions peacefully coexist. As
an illustration of this, you can see a catholic church being
opposite a Vodoo Temple, the Temple of Pythons.
17 The Temple houses sacred pythons. As a visitor, you can
put one of them around your neck.
18 The Pendjari National Park: Unlike a zoo, this park
houses many animals that can be met by taking a tour.
19 Idem.
20 The Venice of Africa: It is the largest lakeside village in
Africa where daily life takes place on the water.

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21 Scene of daily life: floating market.
22 In Benin, we have two (2) major festivals: The Gaani
festival which is the greatest in the North. A magnificent
horse dance is organized on this occasion.
23 The Vodoo Days, the largest in the South, take place
each year in Ouidah and celebrate the cultural identity of
Benin.
Politics
24 Benin official language is French, Political Capital is Porto-
Novo, Economic Capital is Cotonou. Its political system is
Democracy with the President as Head of State.
25 Here is the area: 114,763 Km2 . Approximately 13,712,828
people live in Benin.
26 Here is the sociolinguistic map of Benin. This map
underlines the linguistic diversity in Benin with ‘Fon’ and
‘Adja’ as the most spoken languages.
27 In 1960, Benin got independent with Hubert MAGA as the
first president. A new state, the country was to face a long
period of political instability.
28 Here are some Presidents who ruled in a very short period Senior Captain GAGA
of time.
29 1972: turning point in the political history of Benin:
Kérékou led the country for 19 years. Dahomey became
Benin, and the country was led under a Marxist-Leninist
ideology.
30 Idem.
31 The Soviet Union Collapse was synonym of collapse for
its satellite states. Accordingly, the Revolution in Benin
failed. This led to the Conférence des Forces Vives de la
Nation on February 1990. It was then decided to make
Democracy the political model of the country.
32 This conference has shaped the political system which
reigns until these days: Head of State is the President,
elect for a five years term, renewal once, with a parliament
to keep the balance.
Defence
33 Benin has no declared enemy, nor aggressive or hostile
aims towards anyone. It only aspires to live in peace with
other countries and devote itself to its development.
34 The Dahomey Amazons were an elite group of female
warriors in the Kingdom of Dahomey (Benin).
The presence nowadays of female personnel in our
Armed Forces is not therefore a roll of the dice: It
perpetuates an illustrious tradition that dates back to those
amazons.
35 The amazons have been so famous that their history has Captain ZANKARO
been adapted on the screen trough the movie “The
Woman King”.
36 The Benin Armed Forces are tasked to preserve the

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 integrity of the territory, the lives of citizens and national
sovereignty. They also enable the State to honor its
commitment in favor of peace and international security.
37 The BAF are made up of four (4) components as
displayed.
38 Army is the most important component. Its main task is to
defend the borders of the country and to ensure its
security. Army is also dedicated to the protection of people
and their property.
39 The National Guard is the youngest component of BAF. It
has been created since 2020 to solve specific security
issues. National Guard features the best skills of the three
other components. It main task is to maintain public order
and to fight against terrorism.
40 Navy is focused on the ddefence and protection of
national interests in the waters under own jurisdiction. It
furthermore fights against maritime piracy.
41 The Air Force´s task is mainly to provide aerial defense of
the country and to support ground and naval operations.
42 Here is an outlook of the equipment engaged in Operation
Mirador, designed to fight security threats. In the same
vein, Benin maintains a close partnership with various
countries including India. It is our hope, that this
relationship, already excellent, will be more fruitful in the
future.
43 In the fight against security threats, our credo is: “No
square centimeter will be left to the enemy”. This
underlines our determination to make Benin an oasis of
peace in Africa as it has always been.
India-Benin Relationships
44 Since July 2019, Benin and India have decided to
strengthen their economic partnership.
45 The Beninese economy is based on agriculture with
Cotton, Cashew nut, and Pineapple as the main products.
These different products are industrialized within the
‘’GDIZ’’ and are then exported throughout the world.
46 From all the economic partners Benin´s, India is the most
important as you can deduct from the numbers.
Djimon Hounsou played notably in ‘’Blood diamond’’ Senior Captain GAGA
47 alongside with Leonardo Dicaprio, and in “Gladiator”
alongside with Russell Crowe.
48 Angélique Kidjo set an international record by winning five
(5) Grammy Awards in the category World Music.
Conclusion
49 Benin is like a jar with many holes. It takes human capital
to block these holes and to develop the country.