A fresh restitution push that is already reshaping the conversation
Benin has opened a new chapter in its long campaign to recover cultural heritage held in France. President Romuald Wadagni has formally asked his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to return 35 additional cultural objects and historical documents currently kept in French collections. The request follows the landmark handover of 26 royal treasures from Abomey in 2021, and it has quickly become a talking point that reaches far beyond diplomatic circles.
The new demand places memory, cultural sovereignty and tourism ambitions in the same frame. It also raises a series of practical questions: what happens if France agrees, what happens if it does not, and how will ordinary Beninese experience the outcome?
Why these 35 objects matter beyond the symbolic gesture
The restitution of African cultural property held in Europe has become a permanent feature of relations between Cotonou and Paris. By requesting 35 more items — ranging from objects tied to the former kingdoms of Benin to historical documents — Benin is extending a process that began years ago and aims to bring home pieces taken during the colonial period.
The move is not merely a symbolic claim. It forms part of a broader policy designed to let Benin regain control of significant parts of its own history and make them accessible to its people.
Among the requested pieces are objects linked to the old kingdoms of Benin, their rulers and their traditions. Their return would help complete national collections and give greater depth to the historical narrative presented in Beninese museums.
For the authorities in Cotonou, restitution is a question of memory as much as sovereignty. For decades, a substantial part of Benin’s material history was kept outside the African continent. The country now wants to reverse that pattern.
Building on the precedent set under Patrice Talon
Romuald Wadagni is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Patrice Talon, who made the return of cultural property a priority of Beninese diplomacy.
The most striking moment of that policy remains the November 2021 return of 26 works from the royal treasury of Abomey, after their official restitution by France.
Those objects — including thrones, statues, sceptres and other emblematic pieces of the Kingdom of Dahomey — had been seized by French troops during the conquest of the kingdom in 1892.
Their homecoming stirred deep emotion across Benin. For many Beninese, it was not simply the return of old objects but the recovery of a piece of their own story.
That first restitution also carried international weight. It helped position Benin as one of the African countries most actively engaged in the debate over African heritage held in Western collections.
With the new request for 35 items, Cotonou intends to keep that momentum going and widen the movement.
Museums as the next front in the restitution battle
Recovering the works is only the first step. The country still needs facilities capable of receiving, conserving and showcasing them.
This is one of the central pillars of Benin’s cultural policy. The government has committed significant investment to building and modernising museum infrastructure.
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 International Vodun Museum project aims to shed light on a religious and cultural tradition that is often reduced abroad to clichés. In Ouidah, projects dedicated to the memory of slavery are meant to strengthen the place of this historic city in the country’s cultural and tourism landscape.
The strategy is clear: returned objects should not simply sit 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.
From heritage site to economic engine
This heritage policy also responds to an economic ambition.
Benin wants culture and tourism to contribute more strongly to national growth. The return of the works therefore fits into a wider strategy aimed at turning 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 to the museums of Porto-Novo, explore 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 develop.
Heritage thus becomes much more than a matter of conservation: it can become an economic sector that creates jobs and income.
The conservation and transmission challenge
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 conservators, historians, restorers and heritage specialists to guarantee the transmission of these objects to future generations.
The goal should not be only 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 help explain pre-colonial kingdoms, African societies, resistance to colonial conquest and the political and cultural transformations that have shaped Benin’s history.
A cultural battle that reaches beyond borders
The request for 35 additional cultural objects from 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 originating from the African continent. Today, several African states want to regain control of their heritage and build institutions on their own soil capable of conserving and presenting it.
Benin intends to play a leading role in that movement.
After the 26 royal treasures returned in 2021 under Patrice Talon, the 35 new items requested by Romuald Wadagni mark another stage. The process could still be long, since each object requires identification, documentation and negotiation.
But the message from Cotonou is now clear: Beninese heritage should gradually return to its place in Benin.
Reclaiming the past to build the future
The fight for restitution therefore goes well beyond the question of ancient objects. It touches on identity, memory and a country’s ability to tell its own story.
For Benin, the challenge now is to turn every restitution into an opportunity. A returning work must be studied, conserved, 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 under those conditions will restitution take on its full meaning.
The 35 new items requested from France could become another piece of a vast undertaking: recover heritage, build 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 Beninese heritage not only a legacy to preserve but also a cultural, educational and economic force serving future generations.