Cotonou - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
Mostly dominated by European expats especially French. - Oct 2024
Small. Morale is moderately good. - Feb 2020
Reasonably sized but not huge. Large French, Lebanese, Indian communities. - Aug 2018
The French-speaking expat community is larger and more active. - Jan 2017
Small and low. - Oct 2015
Small and there are certainly people there for the job only, but if you are open and adventurous and very flexible, you will have a wonderful time. - Jun 2015
Overall small, with the anglophone portion being miniscule - mostly the U.S. Embassy, Peace Corps, and a few other random folks. Morale varies greatly from person to person, depending on the social circles that are present at any particular time, as people come and go fairly regularly. - Aug 2014
Small, as it IS a small post. But if you connect with even a few people, you can be happy. You'll just see them a lot, probably at the same restaurant, at the same time every week. That's kind of how life goes here. And it can be a very good thing. - Jul 2013
Small, and the Anglophone expat community is tiny. - May 2013
There are more than 3000 French citizens in Benin, and a smattering of other nationalities. Native Anglophones are rare, but you can find some Northern Europeans that speak very fluent English. - Mar 2013
Probably about 1,000, mostly French. - Dec 2011
