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 COTONOU 00000082 001.3 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Gayleatha B. Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d. -------------- Summary -------------- 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. -------------- Benin: Democracy on the Move -------------- 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 COTONOU 00000082 002.2 OF 003 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. -------------- U.S. Assistance to Benin -------------- 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. -------------- Points President Yayi May Raise -------------- 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. -------------- Next Steps in U.S.-Benin Cooperation -------------- COTONOU 00000082 003.2 OF 003 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