Highlights Politics

Issa Badarou-Soulé, the candidate of hope

Benin presidential candidate Issa Badarou-Soulé
Benin presidential candidate Issa Badarou-Soulé

The Cotonou Port is often described by the Beninese people and officials as the “nation’s lifeline,” a colorful way to state that it is the backbone of the national economy. It also serves as the access to the sea for landlocked neighboring countries up north—obviously a source of income for Benin. Several dedicated and competent managers have served as director-generals of the Cotonou Port over the years, but, arguably, none has left a mark as strong as Issa Badarou-Soulé, 62, one of the 33 candidates for president. After holding a number of international positions following his impressive tenure as director-general of the Cotonou Port from 1991 to1997, Issa Badarou-Soulé was tapped by now-outgoing president Yayi Boni as his adviser for Equipment and Transports in 2006, and, two years later, as Minister-Delegate for Maritime Economy, Maritime Transports and Port’s Infrastructure, an unprecedented cabinet position with the responsibility—as vast as the sea—to “transform Benin’s comparative privilege of the sea into a competitive advantage for Benin’s emergence,” in line with the president’s vision to make port and maritime activities one of the main areas of his development policy.

The Cotonou Port is today a thriving company, but that was not the case when Issa Badarou-Soulé took charge in 1991—twenty years after joining the company—after working his way from lower management. Rather, he inherited a bankrupt, debt-ridden company that he quickly turned around thanks to in-depth reforms, smart human resources management and international partnership building, all of which resulted in a sharp increase in traffic and turned the port into a profitable business that soon became the envy of other ports in the sub-region.

Then Minister-Delegate for Maritime Economy, Maritime Transports and Port’s Infrastructure, Issa Badarou-Soulé
Then Minister-Delegate for Maritime Economy, Maritime Transports and Port’s Infrastructure, Issa Badarou-Soulé

But Issa Badarou-Soulé isn’t just a successful manager with an impressive track record both at home and abroad. He is also an entrepreneur, founder of a local radio station, Radio Wèkè, and a tourist attraction center near Porto-Novo, Benin’s capital. Though a devout Muslim, he is respectful of other faiths and the very embodiment of religious tolerance, as evidenced by his membership in the association “Christians to change the world.”

Calling himself the candidate of hope committed to bringing together Beninese citizens of all manner—the old and the young generations, men and women from all walks of life across the country—Issa Badarou-Soulé is asking for his fellow-citizens’ votes to use his proven abilities and his poise to develop Benin.

His motto: “Together we’ll win, together we’ll lead Benin to economic and social development.”

Issa Badarou-Soulé is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique (ENSAE) and the Centre Européen de la Formation des Statisticiens et Economistes des Pays en Voie de Développement (CESD-Paris) where he earned an engineering degree in Statistics Economics in 1981. He also holds a doctoral degree in Econometrics (1985). He held several high-level positions, including the following:

  • 2008-2011 Minister-Delegate for Maritime Economy, Maritime Transports and Port’s Infrastructures

  • 2006-2008 Technical advisor to the head of state for Equipment and Transport

  • 2000-2006 Business administration consultant

  • 1998-2000 World Bank consultant for the improvement of the port sector in Haiti

  • 1991-1997 Director General of the Cotonou Port

  • 1991-1994 Chairman of the board of directors of SOBEMAP

  • 1993-1997 Vice President of the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  • 1988-1991 Director of Marketing of the Cotonou Port