Benin's Finance Minister Wadagni seeks his own mandate in election
Romuald Wadagni is expected to make the leap from behind-the-scenes technocrat to head of state on Sunday when he runs as the strong favourite in a presidential election. Wadagni has spent the past decade implementing the economic agenda of outgoing president Patrice Talon, who is barred by constitutional term limits from running again. Since his selection as ruling party candidate last September, Wadagni has played down the idea of any major break from the man with whom he shares, as he told French magazine "Jeune Afrique" last month, "almost like a father-and-son relationship".
His campaign points to achievements such as tripling the national budget and posting the highest GDP growth rates in cotton-exporting Benin in more than two decades. In the pre-dawn hours of December 7, disgruntled soldiers attempted a coup, temporarily seizing the state television network and getting close enough to Talon that he witnessed clashes firsthand. Al Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin killed 54 Benin soldiers in one attack a year ago, and another 15 in an attack last month. Wadagni was born on June 20, 1976, in Lokossa, in southern Benin.
Wadagni is facing off against just one candidate: Paul Hounkpe of the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin party, who maintains that most citizens are not benefiting from Talon's high GDP growth and flashy tourism projects.
Quick Summary
Benin's Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni is the frontrunner in a presidential election amid rising jihadist attacks. Wadagni promises continuity from the outgoing president - but the stability of the country is at stake.
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