Benin has crossed a decisive threshold in its long campaign to reclaim its cultural heritage. After securing the historic return of 26 royal treasures from Abomey in 2021, President Romuald Wadagni has now formally asked his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to hand back 35 additional cultural objects and historical documents currently held in France. This is not a routine request — it marks a major shift in the pace and scale of Benin’s restitution fight, one that weaves together memory, cultural sovereignty and a bold tourism vision.
A fresh offensive to bring national heritage home
The question of returning African cultural property kept in Europe has become a permanent fixture in relations between Benin and France. By requesting 35 more objects and historical records, Cotonou is pressing forward with a process launched years ago, aiming to recover pieces of a heritage whose many elements were taken during the colonial period.
The move championed by President Romuald Wadagni goes beyond a symbolic claim. It forms part of a broader policy designed to let Benin take back significant chapters of its history and make them accessible to its own people.
Among the items being sought are objects linked to Benin’s former kingdoms, their rulers and their traditions. Their return would enrich national collections and add greater depth to the historical narrative presented in Beninese museums.
For the authorities in Cotonou, restitution is therefore a matter of memory — but also of sovereignty. For decades, a substantial part of Benin’s material history was kept outside the African continent. The country now intends to reverse that trend.
Continuing the battle begun under Patrice Talon
Romuald Wadagni is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Patrice Talon, who made the return of cultural property a cornerstone of Benin’s diplomacy.
The defining moment of that policy remains the November 2021 homecoming of 26 works from the royal treasury of Abomey, after France officially returned them.
These objects — including thrones, statues, ceremonial staffs and other emblematic pieces of the Kingdom of Dahomey — had been seized by French troops during the conquest of the kingdom in 1892.
Their return to Benin triggered an outpouring of emotion across the country. For many Beninese, it was not merely the recovery of ancient objects but the return of a piece of their own story.
That first restitution also carried international weight. It helped establish Benin as one of the African nations most actively engaged in the debate over returning African heritage held in Western collections.
With the new request for 35 items, Cotonou aims to sustain that momentum and widen the movement.
New museums to host the recovered treasures
Recovering the works, however, is only the first step. The country also needs infrastructure capable of receiving, preserving and showcasing them.
This is precisely one of the main pillars of Benin’s cultural policy. The government has invested heavily in building and modernising museum facilities.
In Abomey, the Museum of the Epic of the Amazons and the Kings of Danxomè is intended to tell the story of the Kingdom of Dahomey and present part of its heritage to the public.
In Porto-Novo, the planned International Vodun Museum should help highlight a religious and cultural tradition that is often reduced abroad to stereotypes. In Ouidah, projects dedicated to the memory of slavery are also meant to strengthen the historic city’s place in the country’s cultural and tourism landscape.
The strategy is clear: returned objects must not simply be placed behind glass. They must be accompanied by scientific, educational and historical work that allows visitors to understand their origin, their meaning and the circumstances in which they left Benin.
Turning heritage into an engine for tourism
This heritage policy also answers an economic ambition.
Benin wants culture and tourism to contribute more to the country’s growth. The return of the works therefore fits into a wider strategy aimed at transforming historic sites, traditions and museums into genuine tourist attractions.
Abomey and its royal palaces, Ouidah and its history linked to the slave trade, Porto-Novo and its architectural heritage, Vodun traditions and the cultures of the former kingdoms are all assets.
The challenge now is to create a real tourist circuit around these different sites.
A visitor could discover the royal palaces of Abomey, continue the journey to the museums of Porto-Novo, learn about the history of Ouidah and take part in cultural events such as the Vodun Days. Around these activities, hotels, restaurants, crafts, transport, guide services and a whole local economy can grow.
Heritage then becomes far more than a matter of conservation: it can become an economic sector that creates jobs and income.
The challenge of conservation and transmission
Restitution nonetheless raises another challenge: conservation.
Ancient objects require specific conditions of temperature, humidity, security and restoration. Their return must therefore be accompanied by appropriate skills and resources.
Benin will also need to keep training curators, historians, restorers and heritage specialists to guarantee that these items are passed on to future generations.
For the goal must not be solely to recover objects. Young generations must also be able to make them their own.
In schools, universities and museums, these works can become teaching and research materials. They can shed light on pre-colonial kingdoms, African societies, resistance to colonial conquest and the political and cultural transformations that have shaped Benin’s history.
A cultural struggle that reaches beyond borders
The request for 35 additional cultural objects sent to France also illustrates how the balance of power around African heritage is shifting.
For a long time, major European museums concentrated a considerable share of objects from the African continent. Today, several African states want to regain control of their heritage and build institutions on their own soil capable of preserving and presenting it.
Benin intends to play a leading role in this movement.
After the 26 royal treasures returned in 2021 under Patrice Talon, the 35 new items requested by Romuald Wadagni represent a further step. The process may still take time, as each object requires identification, documentation and negotiation.
But the message from Cotonou is now unmistakable: Benin’s heritage must gradually find its way back home.
Reclaiming the past to build the future
The battle for restitution therefore goes beyond the question of ancient objects alone. It touches on identity, memory and a country’s ability to tell its own story.
For Benin, the task now is to turn every restitution into an opportunity. A work that returns must be studied, preserved, exhibited and explained. A museum that opens its doors must attract both Beninese citizens and foreign visitors. A historic site must benefit the communities living nearby.
Only then will restitution take on its full meaning.
The 35 new items claimed from France could thus become another piece of a vast undertaking: recover the heritage, build the museums, develop tourism and turn memory into a resource for the future.
Having secured the return of the Abomey treasures, Benin now wants to go further. The heritage campaign is changing scale. And behind the negotiations between Cotonou and Paris lies a broader ambition: to make Benin’s heritage not only a legacy to preserve, but also a cultural, educational and economic force serving future generations.
