Patrice Talon
President of Benin since 2016
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Key Takeaways
- Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon (born 1 May 1958) is a Beninese politician and businessman who has served as the eighth president of Benin since 2016.
- His father was from Ouidah while his mother came from a Guédégbé family in Abomey.
- Talon had ambitions of becoming a pilot in his early years.
- In 1983, Talon became involved in trading packaging and agricultural inputs.
- In 1990, after recommendations by the World Bank to liberalize economies in West African countries, Benin was called upon to withdraw from the cotton production chain.
Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon (born 1 May 1958) is a Beninese politician and businessman who has served as the eighth president of Benin since 2016.
Early life and career
Talon was born in Ouidah of Fon origin. His father was from Ouidah while his mother came from a Guédégbé family in Abomey. After completing secondary school with a baccalauréat, he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Dakar. Talon had ambitions of becoming a pilot in his early years. Following his second year at university, he passed an Air Afrique pilot exam and transferred to the École nationale de l'aviation civile in Paris, but he was ultimately disqualified by a medical test and forced to pursue other options.
In 1983, Talon became involved in trading packaging and agricultural inputs. In 1985, he returned to Benin and established the Intercontinental Distribution Company (Société Distribution Intercontinentale; SDI), supplying agricultural inputs to cotton producers. In 1990, after recommendations by the World Bank to liberalize economies in West African countries, Benin was called upon to withdraw from the cotton production chain. Talon then won the chance to establish three cotton ginning factories in Benin. He was also known as the "King of Cotton" for his involvement in the cotton industry. He built his empire due to connections with the Beninese political class.
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