WSF Cotonou 2026: the 17th World Social Forum

After more than a decade, Africa is celebrating the return of the World Social Forum to Benin. This 17th edition of the WSF on the continent is neither a coincidence nor a simple matter of geographic rotation. It reflects a deliberate, strategic reading of the struggles, resistance movements, and alternative proposals being driven by West African communities.

Across the region, populations face structural challenges — land grabs, the effects of climate change, extractivism, armed and unarmed conflict, and reforms imposed from outside — and are answering them with responses rooted in indigenous knowledge, community solidarity, and the defense of collective rights over natural resources.

Why Benin

Benin was chosen to host WSF 2026 on behalf of the whole continent. The country stands out for its history as the former territory of the Kingdom of Dahomey and birthplace of the Amazons, for the painful memory tied to the transatlantic slave trade, and for its contemporary vitality at the crossroads of Vodun spirituality and Pan-African culture. Today it serves as a place of return and reconnection for people of African descent seeking historical justice and a reclaimed identity.

• Former territory of the Kingdom of Dahomey
• Birthplace of the legendary Amazon warriors
• A site of memory tied to the transatlantic slave trade
• A crossroads of Vodun spirituality and Pan-African culture
• A place of return and reconnection for the African diaspora

The mobilization that made it possible

This choice was made possible by the West African Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles (CGLTE-OA), which played a catalytic role in bringing the continent's bid before the WSF's International Council. Add to that the strong mobilization of Beninese civil society, working closely with African platforms, international networks, and social movements from all five continents. The Beninese government welcomed the bid, expressing its readiness to support the organization of an event of this global scale.

Previous African editions