Bordered by Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Niger, Benin has a 121-kilometer-long coastline on the Gulf of Guinea. Benin's economy is heavily reliant on the informal re-export and transit trade with Nigeria (estimated at approximately 20% of GDP), and on agriculture. Despite a recent downward trend, the poverty rate remains high, at 46.4% in 2018, with a poverty line of $1.90 a day in purchasing power parity. Female-headed households experience lower levels of poverty (28% compared to 38% for male-headed ones), but generally women suffer from a lack of economic opportunity and are under-represented in high-level decision-making positions (World Bank, 2020).
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