Energy in Benin African Gas Pipeline. Electrical generating capacity in 2002, totaled 122 MW. Total domestic power output in that same year was 55 GWh, of which hydropower accounted for 2 GWh and fossil fuels for the rest. Electricity consumption in 2002 was 488 GWh. An agreement was signed with Togo and Ghana in 1967 under which Benin receives low-cost electric power from Akosombo Dam on the Volta River in Ghana. Total electricity imports for 2002 were estimated at 437 GWh. Togo and Benin are constructing a dam on the Mono River, along the Togo border, that will feed a power station to
Benin Bronzes modern period, which is an erroneous assumption considering the Benin Empire was in itself a hub of African civilization before the Portuguese traders visited. Today, it is clear that the bronzes were made in Benin from an indigenous culture. Many of these dramatic sculptures date to the thirteenth century, centuries before contact with Portuguese traders, and a large part of the collection dates to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is believed that two "golden ages" in Benin metal workmanship occurred during the reigns of Esigie ( 1550) and of Eresoyen (1735–50), when their workmanship achieved its highest qualities. While