Benin opens door to nationality for slave descendants

Lilith Dorsey is an American citizen living in New Orleans, but it is in Benin that she could end her days to "feel closer to her homeland".

In the coming months, the author, dancer and filmmaker aims to take advantage of a new law in the West African state granting Beninese nationality to the descendants of enslaved Africans.

Adopted by parliament on July 30, the legislation is Benin's latest attempt to attract people drawn to their cultural and historical roots on the African continent -- a legacy of a slave trade which left a deep mark on Benin.

Millions of enslaved Africans departed from the shores of West Africa, not least from Benin's beaches, to be shipped across the oceans.

The law's text, set to be approved by Benin's President Patrice Talon, will allow "any person who, according to their genealogy, has an African, sub-Saharan ancestor deported as part of the slave trade" to obtain a Beninese passport.

"What the government of Benin has done is extraordinary and will bring us closer to our brothers here," Dorsey told AFP.

Officials say the law is a response to the difficulties of "the search for identity faced by Afro-descendants".

Nathan Debos is another American citizen intent on taking Beninese citizenship.

He plans to make a pilgrimage in January 2025 to attend a festival of Voodoo, known locally as Vodun.

While at the festival in the small southern beach town of Ouidah dotted with memorials to the slave trade, he plans to begin the application for his passport.

Widely practiced in Benin, the Voodoo religion celebrates the worship of gods, natural spirits as well as the respect of revered ancestors.

As president of the New Orleans National Vodou Day, Debos feels more comfortable in West Africa than in the United States.

"We have too many problems with racism and it is difficult for us to feel at home," the man in his thirties said, adding that he was "delighted that Benin extends its hands out warmly to us and embraces us".

"It is wonderful".

- Land of welcome -

The government is already promoting the country's Voodoo culture as a way to bring in more foreign tourists, notably the descendants of slaves.

Their return from America and elsewhere as full-time citizens of Benin is eagerly awaited by some like Seraphin Adjagboni, a leading Vodun dignitary in the south of the country.

"Our ancestors predicted it," the 54-year-old said, adding that "without this return, our history will never be complete".

"If we struggle to achieve the development of our countries, it is because we have a part of ourselves elsewhere," Adjagboni said.

Others, though, are more concerned about the law.

Beninese student Noel Sintondji, 24, said he was worried about the impact on the job market of "numerous people of African descent who will become Beninese overnight".

But for Nadege Anelka, a 57-year-old from Martinique who has already settled in Benin, the law represents an "opportunity" to show solidarity and compassion with other people whose ancestors suffered during the slave trade.

"I feel good in Benin and freer to flourish," said Anelka, who has set up a travel agency in the country.

"In each Beninese, I see my grandparents again. I find that we are similar and that is what struck me the first time when I came," she said.