Benin Brides are seeking foreign men, who knew? Heck, you might not even know where Benin is! Benin is a tiny West African country with a rich culture and a tragic history of violence. And perseverance.
What makes it great for foreign guys
For all it’s gone through, however, it remains one of the most politically stable countries in the Western side of the continent. Especially when compared to its immediate neighbors.
This has made it a very desirable country for tourists when combined with the culture. A heterogenous mish mash of different aspects from all over the world. Tucked away neatly between Togo and Nigeria, people often treat this country as an extension of Nigeria, but they couldn’t be more wrong about this humble country.
Right from the women to the country, everything about Benin is unique and loveable. Although things are definitely starting to take a turn for the better, it still ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world.
What makes women from Benin so special, then?
Why Benin Women Are Looking for Foreign Husbands
Just like a lot of other African countries, women from Benin are looking to improve their lives. Although not always possible, one way to do that is to become part of a wealthier man’s life. In poor countries, most wealthy men are from, well, other countries.
Stability
Don’t misunderstand, though. Their culture is one of the most unique in the world. One that really should serve as an inspiration to us all.
One thing that’s especially discouraged is materialism. It’s then worth noting that few women you will come across in the country are looking for a sugar daddy. A long-lasting relationship is much more important.
This might seem like a contradiction. Women aren’t materialistic but they are looking for wealthier guys. What that means is that they want a guy who can provide a basic, safe life BUT beyond that, they aren’t trying to “keep up with the Jones'” or to live the high life. Just a simple, stable, peaceful, and happy life.
Benin’s GDP is $9.57B, as compared to its neighbor Nigeria’s $357.77B or even Canada’s $1.65T. Someone from Nigeria is considered a millionaire by Benin’s standards. You can then guess the kind of life a person from the West lives, in comparison.
Their country is oppressive
Despite their abundance of culture, women in the country never benefitted from the kind of reformation the rest of the world has seen.
Although the passage of a new law in the early 21st century saw the marked improvement of the lives of women in the country, inequality and discrimination still persist in the country. The corruption is rampant. Police protection is almost non-existent. Poor enforcement of laws against polygamy, rape and forced marriage often leads to criminals walking scot-free.
Domestic violence is also quite common. Though illegal, the police are often unwilling to take any part in it since it’s considered a private matter.
Finally, while the legal age of marriage is 18, about 22% of women are reported to be married, widowed or divorced by the time they hit 19.
Marrying a foreign man is a way out of an oppressive and corrupt government. Literate women especially have a hard time getting married within the country since they are seen as abandoning their culture.
Religion
Christianity is pretty big in the country and is often practiced side-by-side with African traditional beliefs.
It’s generally assumed that every Caucasian is a Christian so there’s a plus to being a white guy. But men of any nationality will probably do better if they look Christian. From a comfort point of view.
Of course, no country is uniformly religious. Men of other religions may have a harder time or have more limited options.
Here’s Why You Should Give Beninese Women a Chance
Poor countries are known to be hubs for sex tourism and all kinds of prostitution. While Benin isn’t exactly an exception, it’s not as prevalent as in Central African countries. This is pretty important because women approaching you aren’t just looking for money. Scams are also a lot less common.
Benin Women have old school values
Conservative and traditional values have become less and less popular with the dawn of the twenty-first century. The multitude of movements that the modern era has brought with it is not always conducive to finding love or settling down.
African countries have been a lot slower on the uptake of the feminist movement and the politically correct culture, for example. And Benin lies just outside the sphere of influence of Western culture.
Beninese girls are still taught the importance of being a good mother to their children. The women themselves have no problem with taking on traditional gender roles. It is how they were raised to be, from when they were little girls.
Things are a bit different in more modernized areas. Educated women tend to be more liberal and vary greatly in their preferences of how they live their lives. At just 32% literacy rates, however, and 40% attendance ratio, these women are anything but the majority.
It’s an untapped market
The women in Benin are a little late to the party but they are now getting better and better access to the internet. The downside of this is there aren’t quite as many available on dating sites. The upside is that it’s an untapped market of hidden gems. Most other guys have missed out on this.
This is even better because it’s a fairly small country. It has a population of just 11 million. Sounds like a lot, if you are talking about pancakes but in terms of people, that’s absolutely tiny.
There are soon going to be more Beninese women online than ever. And if the past is any indicator, a lot of these are going to be in search of someone to get together with from abroad. Maybe you!
Communicating with Her
International dating has taken quite a while to get to African nations. There are a lot less African mail order brides than there are Indian mail order brides, for example. However, the last decade has seen massive growth in the number of women online and looking for something worthwhile.
Aside from Nigeria, Benin has become one of the central hubs for international dating on the continent.
Infrastructure challenges
Most challenges she will face in communicating with you (and you with her) are infrastructure issues. Accessibility to computers, internet availability and literacy are the challenges that these beautiful black women face on a regular basis.
Together, these have encouraged the entry of new players into the game. International agencies like Anastasia and Cupid Media have made their foothold in the country. They give women easier access to the outside world. That’s where you come in. You are the outside world.
It’s important to be aware of these issues. For example, you shouldn’t expect her to respond as fast as, say, a Vietnamese girl would be able to (here’s our guide to meeting and marrying a Vietnamese girl). Though both relatively poor countries, there is a big difference in their infrastructure.
Language
When it comes to language, Benin is extremely diverse, especially considering its size. There are 55 different languages spoken in the country, but French is the most widely spoken. Being a former French colony, it is also the official language.
If you intend on communicating with her online only, there’s not much to worry about. Most trusted sites provide translation software, often for free. If you were planning on visiting, it would definitely help to be at least competent in French before you visit. Otherwise, you will need to consider a translator. Or find a girl who speaks English, of course.
Anyone with comprehensive knowledge of French is in an incredibly great position to make strides at integrating together with Beninese culture. More often than not, tourists rely on translators rather than learning a whole new language.
Even if you’re from, say, Canada, and already know French, their local intonations and pronunciations might be different from what you are used to back home. Having a translator is definitely worthwhile for the first couple of days.
English is also a rising contender for important languages in the country. It’s currently studied as a foreign language at the high school level and the demand for English speakers has been growing by the year.
What It’s Like to Be in A Relationship with A Beninese Woman
Benin is a long way off from achieving the kind of freedom women in the West have today. They have just begun to get a semblance of equal rights as citizens.
Self-discovery and exploration
An interesting consequence of this improvement in civil rights is that women are even more receptive towards foreigners than they were before. Self-discovery has opened up new worlds.
Beninese women have come to the realization that there are better jobs than back-breaking physical labor. And yet, they are trapped in those professions all too often. If they stay in their country.
Her conservative cultural roots
That said, most of Benin is pretty traditional and conservative. It’s rooted in the culture. For example, they do not mind – and a great deal of them believe in – letting the male be the head of the household.
Significant financial decisions can be made without consulting the wife. And she’s likely totally okay with staying at home with you being the breadwinner. Their tradition is still by and large patriarchal and ruled solely by men.
Women are expected to stay at home and cook, take care of the children and make sure the home is looking great. Those who live in the more traditional areas of the country take care of things like weaving the children’s clothes and working on the farm.
Social status
To be fair, getting into the dating scene is something a lot of women feel would largely improve their social status. If you’re high status enough, nobody bothers you when you do what you want.
Still, above all these, nothing is more important than having a stable family. A home with a husband, wife, and children who actually care for each other. That whole ‘nuclear family unit’ that western countries seem to be losing.
Blessed with beauty
Remember how, the whole time we’ve been saying Benin has one of the most diverse cultural landscapes in the whole world? Well, the residents didn’t just wake up one day and find all that culture in their country, straight out of nowhere.
Benin has been home to a wide variety of Nations and travelers in the past. All manner of European traders used Benin as a resting ground before they delved further into the rest of Africa. Portuguese, the Dutch and the English, to mention a few. And, of course, we mustn’t forget that it was a French colony for 55 years. It gained independence, just in 1959.
The implication is that the country is blessed with a wide variety of features in their women. They tend to be moderately tall, have sharp voices and short, kinky hair. Those that know how to properly take care of themselves prefer to let it grow out into traditional afros that we’re so used to seeing dark-skinned women with.
They are also very curvy, courtesy of generations of genetics coming into play. And they tend to have fit and beautiful bodies without having to put as much work into it as you’d expect. Maybe it’s their metabolism or maybe it’s just the fact there’s not a McDonald’s or a Burger King around every corner.
Dating in Benin
One of the quirks of Beninese culture is the caste system. Okay, calling it ‘Beninese culture’ is off-putting because of the sheer number of different cultures shared by the people living in the country. The caste system does, however, exist in a few tribes along the Benin-Nigeria border.
One of the results of the caste system is that it results in some resentment. One group of people is seen (see’s themselves) as being superior to the other simply because of their tribe or where they were born.
Additionally, people are not allowed to marry or date outside their caste. Often, families disown their children because of marrying outside what their tradition has designated ‘okay.’
Strangely, though, very little is said about a local woman, regardless of her caste, marrying a foreigner. It seems all their traditions and rules didn’t have enough foresight to predict the inclusion of the outside world. Perhaps even more strangely, overlooking the caste system is often encouraged in such cases.
This is one more thing that makes dating foreign men so attractive. And why there are some great mail order brides from Benin.
Tips on Dating a Beninese Woman
No tradition is without its quirks, and boy does Beninese culture have some shocks in store for you! Despite all their beauty and general attractiveness, not every Beninese woman is going to be a perfect match.
Voodoo girls
If you’ve watched enough movies, then you’ve probably seen that scary-looking, black-toothed woman with dreads that drag along the floor when she walks at some point. While not exactly an accurate representation of what a ‘witch’ looks like (the bones hanging from her roof are on point), witchcraft is still widely practiced in the countryside.
In fact, Benin is widely credited for being the origin of ‘voodoo’ also locally referred to as ‘juju.’ While most Beninese dismiss it as silly, be aware that a few oddballs might still practice it. Stay far away from them.
It’s not that they will cast some strange spell on you while you sleep or feed you love potions while you’re not looking. Girls who practice it tend to be some of the most hardline tribalists you will ever come across.
By the way, MANY countries with the best mail order brides have similar beliefs. Filipina girls from the province, for example, are as superstitious as they are sweet.
Tribalism
Eh, it’s just a little tribalism, how bad could it be?
Tribalism is a pretty big deal in a lot of African countries. Often so much so that it leads to flaring tensions and can cause some pretty nasty provocations. Such tribal people tend to be very mean-spirited.
She may seem welcoming on the outside, but once they come across someone who’s not from their tribe, a new face is revealed. It’s just trouble. Heed my warning. Unless you really want a great story about insane encounters with tribal voodoo priestesses.
Again, don’t be scared, this is like warning you not to date a western girl who is “Wiccan”. It’s not usually an issue.
Don’t try too hard
All in all, the country is largely pro-Western. You don’t need to try too hard impressing her to make her fall for you. Sure – buy her gifts and take her to places she has never been to before, but don’t overdo it.
The person you really need to impress is the people that are closest to her. Close relatives, parents, and friends. Public opinion matters a lot when it comes to marriage. A little rumor here and there about someone practicing ‘dark magic’ is enough to prevent a potential suitor from marrying his bride-to-be. Yeah, you think it’s funny now but to them, it’s very real.
Times are changing and a lot of Beninese women have the choice to marry the man they want to be with, but this is still the minority of cases. Marriages based on love just are not that widespread at this point, but growing in number.
When to Visit
Benin is one of the most visited countries in West Africa. The tourism industry is more developed than its closest neighbors by a considerable degree. It doesn’t have America-style five-star hotels just yet, but it’s getting close.
What you do want to avoid, however, is visiting the country during the wet season. Of which, the country has two: April-July and September-October. The infrastructure isn’t as well-developed as you’d hope, so getting around might be a problem during these times.
Other Resources
- If you prefer Caucasian girls, you should check out slender Eastern European brides.
- If you love the curves of black women but Africa isn’t quite right, you might want to meet a passionate Latin beauty.
- And if you want to go the complete opposite route, there are tons of sexy Asian single girls looking for a good guy.