Romuald Wadagni was sworn in as Benin’s ninth president in a rare peaceful handover, pledging continuity and a tougher line on Sahel-spillover violence. The DRC’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, declared a global health emergency, spread across three provinces with no vaccine available. South African platinum jumped on a structural supply squeeze. Ghana’s Mahama vowed the country’s “last IMF bailout.” Eswatini drew scrutiny over a US deportee deal. Today’s Africa intelligence brief, landing on Africa Day, tracks six decisions converging on the Monday tape.
01 · Benin — Wadagni Sworn In as President in Rare Peaceful Handover
Romuald Wadagni, Benin’s former finance minister, was sworn in Sunday as the country’s ninth president at the Congress Palace in Cotonou, taking over from Patrice Talon after a landslide April 12 election that handed the technocrat more than 94% of the vote. The 49-year-old economist begins a seven-year term following a constitutional reform that extended the mandate, with a two-term limit.
Wadagni, who spent a decade as finance minister cleaning up public finances and cutting the deficit by a third to 3% of GDP, pledged to ensure economic growth becomes “visible in people’s everyday lives,” focusing on jobs and basic services. He vowed firmness against the Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM jihadists pushing south from the Sahel into northern Benin, and faces the task of stabilising fraught ties with junta-ruled Niger and Burkina Faso. The peaceful handover stood out in a region where coups and third-term bids have grown common, with Niger’s prime minister attending in a sign of detente.
