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 has had a tumultuous history since then, with many different democratic governments, military coups, and military governments. A Marxist–Leninist state called the People's Republic of Benin existed between 1975 and 1990. In 1991, it was replaced by the current multi-party Republic of Benin. During the colonial period and at independence, the country was known as Dahomey. On 30 November 1975, it was renamed to Benin, after the body of water on which the country lies—the Bight of Benin. This had been named by Europeans after the Benin Empire in present-day Nigeria. The country of Benin has no connection to Benin