Benin’s ruling coalition has selected economy minister Romuald Wadagni as its candidate for the 2026 presidential election.
President Patrice Talon, the current head of state, who has been in power since 2016, has maintained that he will not seek a third term in line with the constitution.
The presidential majority is made up of several parties, including the Republican Bloc (BR) and the Progressive Union for Renewal (UP-R).
“Romuald Wadagni is the candidate of the parliamentary and presidential majority. He is the candidate of each one of us. He is my candidate,” UP-R president Joseph Djogbenou said in a statement.
Officials from the two parties said the choice of Wadagni was consensual and had been made during a closed meeting at Talon’s residence overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
The former Deloitte audit and consulting executive who studied in France and the United States, was appointed economy minister in 2016.
Over the past ten years, Benin has displayed robust growth, regularly exceeding six per cent annually.
Wadagni, a proponent of fiscal discipline, advocated for a restructuring of the African debt during the COVID pandemic, rather than calling for its cancellation — earning the trust of international investors.
Benin has also consistently received favourable ratings from international agencies and successfully issued bonds on both regional and international markets.
Wadagni’s main rival in the April 2026 election is expected to be the candidate of The Democrats (LD), the party of former president Thomas Yayi Boni. However, their candidate is not yet known.
GUARDIAN