Cotonou – Benin’s ruling coalition picked economy minister Romuald Wadagni as its candidate on Sunday for the 2026 presidential election, Wadagni and party officials told AFP.
The current head of state, President Patrice Talon, 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,” said UP-R president Joseph Djogbenou in a statement.
🇧🇯 Bénin/𝗣𝗿𝗲́𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲:
𝗥𝗼𝗺𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗪𝗔𝗗𝗔𝗚𝗡𝗜 est désigné candidat à la présidentielle de 2026 par les deux partis de la mouvance présidentielle : l’Union Progressiste le Renouveau (UPR) et le Bloc Républicain (BR).Ministre d’État en charge de… pic.twitter.com/98KGAn4WmG
— Edith Brou Bleu (@edithbrou) August 31, 2025
Several officials from the two parties said the choice of Wadagni was unanimous and had been made during a closed meeting at Talon’s residence overnight from Saturday to Sunday
Wadagni, 49, is widely seen as one of Talon’s closest collaborators since he came to power.
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 percent 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.
In recent years, Benin has also consistently received favourable ratings from international agencies and successfully issued bonds on both regional and international markets.
For some years now, Talon has also involved his minister in discussions over defence matters, a crucial sector for the small west African country, which has faced jihadist incursions in the north.
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 but their candidate is not yet known.
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Source: AFP
