Sahel-Benin Union was a short-lived union of four former

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire existed mainly in the Americas and Asia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the second French colonial empire existed mainly in Africa and Asia. France had about 80 colonie ...

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

, that were the four

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

s of Upper Volta (

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

(

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

) and

Côte d’Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

. This union "was the grouping that worked in the most efficient way for the cause of African unity. This union ..was provided with modest but functional institutions; a Council seating with the Chiefs of States, the ministers of common affairs and the presidents of the National Assemblies ssemblées Nationales A customs union was set up as well as sinking fund. A political, economic and military coordination developed.".Ivory Coast Ministry for African Integration
(in French) Nevertheless, it lasted only for a short time and was replaced by May 1959 far more modestly by the

Conseil de l'Entente The Conseil de l'Entente ("Council of Accord" or "Council of Understanding") is a West African regional co-operation forum established in May 1959 by Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Republic of Upper Volta, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Republic of Da ...

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahel-Benin Union 1958 in the Republic of Dahomey 1958 in Upper Volta 1958 in Ivory Coast 1958 in Niger 1959 in the Republic of Dahomey 1959 in Upper Volta 1959 in Ivory Coast 1959 in Niger Pan-Africanism in Africa Pan-Africanism in Burkina Faso

See also

Notes and references