DAKAR, Senegal — U.S. singer Ciara is one of the first public figures to become a citizen of Benin under a recent law by the small West African country granting citizenship to descendants of enslaved people.
The Grammy-winning performer’s acquisition of citizenship at a ceremony Saturday in the city of Cotonou is part of a broader initiative by Benin to attract the Black diaspora, acknowledge the country’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and promote tourism focused on slavery-related sites of remembrance.
“By legally recognizing these children of Africa, Benin is healing a historical wound. It is an act of justice, but also one of belonging and hope,” Justice Minister Yvon Détchénou said at the ceremony.
Here’s what to know about Benin’s efforts to welcome descendants of enslaved people:
Benin’s Afro-descendant citizenship law
In September, Benin passed a law granting citizenship to those who can trace their lineage to the slave trade.
It is open to anyone above 18 who doesn’t already hold other African citizenship and can provide proof that an ancestor was deported via the slave trade from anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. Beninese authorities accept DNA tests, authenticated testimonies and family records.
Last week, the government launched My Afro Origins, the digital platform that processes applications.
While Benin is not the first country to grant citizenship to descendants of enslaved people, its citizenship law carries added significance, in part because of the role it played in the transatlantic slave trade.
A national reckoning with its role in the slave trade
European merchants deported an estimated 1.5 million enslaved people from the Bight of Benin — a region that includes present-day Benin, Togo and parts of Nigeria — to the Americas.
Beninese kings actively participated in capturing and selling enslaved people to Portuguese, French and British merchants. The former kingdoms and the communities they raided still exist today as tribal networks.
Benin has long been working to reconcile with its legacy of complicity. It has openly acknowledged its role in the slave trade, a stance not shared by many other African nations that participated.
In the 1990s, it hosted an international conference to examine how and where enslaved people were sold. In 1999, then-President Mathieu Kérékou apologized to African Americans during a visit to a church in Baltimore.
‘Memorial tourism’
Alongside this national reckoning, “memorial tourism” around the legacy of the slave trade has become a key approach of Benin’s government to attract Afro-descendants.
Memorial sites are mostly in Ouidah, one of Africa’s most active slave-trading ports in the 18th and 19th centuries. They include the Slave Route, which was the path marking enslaved people’s final journey to ships, and the Door of No Return, a haunting doorway that opens to the Atlantic Ocean where they left Africa, and their families, for the last time.
Sindé Chekete, the head of Benin’s state-run tourism agency, said these sites give Afro-descendants the opportunity to learn about and honor the struggles and resilience of their ancestors.
“It may inspire some people to say ‘I want to return to Africa and choose Benin to understand this history’,” Chekete said.
Following her citizenship ceremony, Ciara toured the historic city, where she walked the Slave Route to the Door of No Return.
“Between emotion, reflection and heritage, I experienced a profound return to what truly matters,” she said.
Ciara is best known for chart-topping hits like “Goodies” and “Level Up,” her dynamic choreography, and her work in fashion and philanthropy.
