France played a key role in helping Beninese authorities thwart a coup attempt over the weekend, according to a senior aide to French President Emmanuel Macron. The disclosure sheds light on behind-the-scenes regional coordination that helped prevent another military takeover in West Africa.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the aide said President Macron led a diplomatic coordination effort by engaging with key leaders in the region following Sunday’s failed putsch. The official, who requested anonymity, revealed that France provided assistance to Benin at the request of its government.
According to the aide, French support to the Benin Armed Forces included surveillance, observation and logistical backing. Specific operational details of the assistance were not disclosed.
The coup attempt unfolded on Sunday when a group of soldiers seized Benin’s national television station and announced that President Patrice Talon had been removed from office. However, the effort was short-lived, as loyalist forces regained control and restored order.
Security sources said the failed coup was countered with support from neighbouring Nigeria, which reportedly carried out military strikes around Cotonou and deployed troops to reinforce Benin’s forces.
The incident has heightened concern in Paris, as West Africa has experienced a wave of coups in recent years that have steadily diminished French influence in the region. Military takeovers in Mali (2020 and 2021), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023) all led to the withdrawal of French troops previously deployed for counterterrorism operations.
A successful coup in Benin, a former French colony, would have marked another setback for France’s standing in the region and for President Macron’s Africa policy.
The situation has also underscored wider regional instability. Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, was thrown into political turmoil following a coup in November after elections, adding to growing insecurity across West Africa.
The French presidential aide said President Macron held talks on Sunday with President Talon, as well as leaders of Nigeria and Sierra Leone, which currently holds the presidency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“The situation in Benin caused serious concern for the president, who unequivocally condemned this attempt at destabilisation, which fortunately failed,” the aide said.
In response to the crisis, ECOWAS announced the deployment of a standby force comprising troops from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to help Benin preserve constitutional order and territorial integrity.
“Our community is in a state of emergency,” ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray said on Tuesday, pointing to the combined threats of coups and jihadist violence across the region.
France, according to the aide, offered full political backing to ECOWAS during the crisis, praising the bloc’s swift response.
By Monday, loyalist military sources said at least a dozen coup plotters had been arrested and all hostages, including senior officers, had been freed. President Talon later addressed the nation, assuring citizens that the situation was “completely under control.”
President Talon, 67, is expected to step down in April after completing the constitutionally permitted two terms in office. Benin has faced growing security challenges in recent years, particularly jihadist attacks in its northern regions.
Meanwhile, former Beninese president Thomas Boni Yayi strongly condemned the attempted coup. In a video posted on Facebook, the ex-leader described the incident as a “bloody and shameful attack” on the country.
Boni Yayi, who led Benin from 2006 to 2016 and previously chaired the African Union, stressed that political power must only change hands through democratic means.
“The transfer of state power responds to a single cardinal and unconditional principle: the ballot box, the will of the people, and free and transparent elections,” he said.
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