Independence Day, celebrated today 1 August, marks the day the country regained complete freedom from France; it is a day of great pride for Beninese, who celebrate it with elaborate feasts, military parades and re-enactments of ancient ceremonies

The €1 million project 'Growing Benin's Organic Cotton Sector', dedicated to helping small cotton farmers switch to organic cotton cultivation, will enter phase II after increasing earnings and sustainability

On the occasion of World AIDS Day, media reminded that in Cotonou a special centre provides support for children living with HIV, often contracted because only one in two infected pregnant women can access care to avoid parental transmission

Minimum conditions that Afro-descendants applying for citizenship must have, published in a July law, have now been implemented by decree: 'persons of African descent deported in the slave trade and triangular trade' can apply for Beninese naturalisation

International exhibition Dig Where You Stand – From Coast to Coast, Benin edition, will be open until 1 December; presented in various coastal African cities, the project addresses themes as decolonization, restitution, repatriation in a site-specific way