SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT TO BENIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COTONOU 000082

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

AF/W FOR DANA BANKS
NSC FOR MARY HAINES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL OVIP BN
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT TO BENIN
WITH POTUS

REF: A. COTONOU 73

B. COTONOU 46

C. COTONOU 37

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Classified By: Ambassador Gayleatha B. Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d.


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Summary
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1.(C) The Secretary of State's February 16 visit to Benin
with POTUS provides an excellent opportunity to re-enforce
already strong ties between the U.S. and Benin and
demonstrates United States support for Benin's democratic
values. President Yayi, who has followed a decidedly
pro-American course since taking office in April 2006,
warmly welcomes this visit. The United States is an
active partner in Benin's development through USAID, MCC,
and Peace Corps. Post suggests that we encourage
President Yayi to look to the U.S. as a trading partner,
work quickly to implement the President's Malaria
Initiative (PMI),encourage him to commit to a
comprehensive anti-corruption plan, and sign a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) for the preferred New Embassy
Construction (NEC) site in Cotonou. During his meetings
with POTUS and the Secretary of State we expect President
Yayi to raise a request for another five year Millennium
Challenge Compact, increased assistance in the fight
against HIV/AIDS, increased funding for education
assistance programs to include school construction, and
a re-inforcement of Benin's capacity to protect its
maritime domain.

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Benin: Democracy on the Move
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2.(U) Benin is a shining star in the sub-region with
its uninterrupted history of democratic
governance since 1990. President Yayi's political
movement which is a coalition of political parties
called, Force Cowrie for an Emerging Benin (FCBE),
did well in parliamentary elections in April 2007
and President Yayi now governs with a comfortable
majority in the National Assembly. Upcoming municipal
elections, scheduled for February 17 but which will
probably be delayed until late March, will provide
an idea of how powerful Yayi and his political
movement are after almost two years in office. After
continuing controversy, and the intervention of
Benin's Supreme Court, the Electoral Commission has
finally begun the first steps necessary to hold
municipal elections. Yayi is now pressuring, so far
unsuccessfully, the other political parties which belong
to FCBE to unite around a single list of candidates for
the upcoming elections.

3.(U) In addition to contending with his coalition partners
President Yayi is confronting striking public sector
workers (Ref A). Teachers have been on strike since early
January 2008 and medical workers joined them later in the
month. Yayi recently attempted to meet the workers'
demands, but they were not satisfied with his offer and
continue their strike.

4.(U) While he has had difficulty negotiating a resolution
to the strikes, President Yayi normally employs a governing
style which is much more in touch with the people of Benin
than previous presidents. He travels frequently throughout
Benin meeting with people in markets and visiting children
in school. This translates into his engagement with the
international community. President Yayi has traveled
extensively in Europe, South and North America, the Middle
East, and Asia in an effort to promote Benin. This
international engagement is also present in Benin's
peacekeeping efforts. More than 10 percent of Benin's
armed forces are deployed abroad on peacekeeping
assignments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Cote d'Ivoire, and Haiti.

5.(SBU) President Yayi, who speaks often of an "emerging
Benin", prioritized double-digit economic growth and the
fight against corruption since taking office. According to
the IMF, Benin's GDP grew at 4.2 percent in 2007, up from
3.8 percent in 2006. Economic growth continues to be

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constrained by electricity shortages and excessive
regulatory red tape. The fight against corruption has
succeeded in exposing cases of malfeasance at
government-owned corporations and in government agencies,
but it lacks the overall focus and coordination that a
more precise definition of objectives and implementation
of an anti-corruption action plan would give it.

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U.S. Assistance to Benin
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6.(U) The United States supports Benin through a wide range
of programs including the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC),the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID),the Departments of State and Defense,
and the Peace Corps. The MCC, which represents the major
source of U.S. assistance to Benin, signed in 2006 its 307
million dollar compact with Benin which is scheduled
for completion in October 2011. The compact's largest
program is its Access to Markets component which aims to
use approximately 169 million dollars to vastly improve the
efficiency of the Port of Cotonou.

7.(U) The USAID program in Benin is investing in the health
and education of the Beninese people with a projected FY
2008 budget of 28.4 million dollars. The Presidential
Malaria Initiative (PMI),with an FY 2008 budget of 14
million dollars, will reduce malaria-related deaths by 50
percent over three years. The Women's Justice and
Empowerment Initiative (WJEI),with a budget of 5.5 million
dollars over three years, will act to reduce gender-based
violence against women and children.

8.(U) Peace Corps, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary
in Benin in 2008, is active in the small business,
environment, education, and health sectors. Peace Corps' 93
volunteers, spread throughout Benin, enjoyed considerable
success during 2007. Among their many achievements they
taught English to 7,586 secondary school students and
provided HIV/AIDS education to 3,300 men, women, and youth.
Volunteers have also been successful in raising over 50,000
dollars in private-public funding for secondary projects in
such areas as orphanage improvement, eco-tourism, and girls'
education scholarships.

9.(U) The Department of State, through the ACOTA program,
funded the training of 1100 Beninese soldiers for
peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Cote d'Ivoire during 2007. IMET funding
supported a Department of Defense Institute for
International Legal Studies seminar which concentrated on
the legal aspects of combating terrorism for an engaged
audience of 33 senior GOB military and civilian leaders.
Self-Help Program Funds funded the construction of
multiple classroom buildings across Benin in 2007, and the
Democracy and Human Rights Fund supported projects which
made an appreciable impact on raising awareness of
children's rights and supporting girls' education.

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Points President Yayi May Raise
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10.(U) Per Ref C, Post expects President Yayi to raise with
POTUS and the Secretary of State several requests for
further U.S.-Benin cooperation on the MCC, education,
health, and security fronts. The MFA informed post that
President Yayi will ask for another MCC Compact. We expect
President Yayi to make a request for assistance to fund
programs which target the prevention of HIV/AIDS among
school-aged girls. He also may make a specific request for
funding to pay for school construction to meet the needs
of the increased numbers of primary school students who
started attending school after the elimination of school
fees at the beginning of the 2007 - 2008 academic year.
President Yayi also will request further security
cooperation, particularly in the maritime domain. He will
probably ask for the re-activation of yearly consultations
between representatives of the U.S. military and Benin's
Armed Forces which stopped in 2000.

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Next Steps in U.S.-Benin Cooperation
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11.(C) New Power Plant: To enhance efforts to strengthen
the ties between the U.S. and Benin, Post requests that
POTUS and the Secretary of State express appreciation
for the selection of a U.S. corporation, Combustion
Associates, Inc., of California, to build a 80 MW power
plant (Benin's largest ever power plant procurement worth
67 million dollars).

12.(C) NEC: President Yayi's personal support was required
to identify a suitable site in Cotonou for a New Embassy
Compound (NEC). However, recalcitrant GOB members object
to the proposed sale of government land, which includes
old, dilapidated Conseil de l'Entente buildings, and have
stalled signing an MOU with the USG. It would be useful
for POTUS and the Secretary of State to request President
Yayi's continued attention to this matter.

13.(C) Avian Influenza: Benin deserves congratulations for
its well-organized, responsible and humane response to the
avian influenza outbreak, which began in Benin in December

2007. The GOB acted quickly to cooperate with the
international community, compensate farmers for their
losses, and aggressively cull birds to contain the outbreak.

14.(C) PMI: Post now aims to make the PMI a similar success
story. It would be useful to re-iterate with President
Yayi that the GOB will need to quickly mobilize the
necessary resources to support the PMI, manage, in a
transparent and accountable way, the resources the U.S.
provides, and make administrative decisions without delay.

15.(C) Corruption: President Yayi has taken significant
symbolic steps against corruption. He has fired corrupt
senior officials, declared an anti-corruption day, led
a march against corruption of several thousand people
through Cotonou, and created new government audit bodies
to monitor government spending. While Benin's performance
on the MCC corruption indicator improved between 2006 and
2007, it failed the indicator for a second time in 2007.
This jeopardizes Benin's eligibility for MCC assistance
under a second compact. Benin must adopt a systemic
approach to fighting corruption. Post welcomes President
Yayi's efforts to date to fight corruption and encourage
him to continue to work with the international community
and to follow through to develop an anti-corruption
action plan.

16.(C) Comment: Well-financed opponents of President Yayi's
anti-corruption, pro-democracy program reportedly are
behind some of the recent disruptive strike activity (Ref
A). A reliable source told the Ambassador that opponents
of President Yayi and others plan to organize an
international press conference during the POTUS visit to
denounce Yayi as a "dictator" and discredit GOB/USG
cooperation. However, indications from a range of Benin's
people view the POTUS visit as a tribute to Benin's efforts
to promote democracy, fight poverty, and stimulate economic
growth

BROWN