Mariam Chabi Talata
Tribute
Benin's first female Vice President, Mariam Chabi Talata, governs with the same principled care she brings to raising four children, demonstrating that authority is most effective when tempered with authentic connection. We celebrate the state visits scheduled around family milestones, the diplomatic skills applied to sibling negotiations, and the constitutional amendments of parenting approaches as her children continue to change and their own children evolve.
Profile
Mariam Chabi Talata is the first female Vice President of Benin, assuming office on May 24, 2021, alongside President Patrice Talon. Prior to this, she made history as the first woman elected as First Vice-President of Benin’s National Assembly during the 8th legislature. Her administrative career includes serving as Director of General Secondary Education at the Ministry of Secondary and Technical Education and Professional Training from 2016 to 2019. She began her career as a philosophy teacher, later becoming a pedagogical inspector. She taught in several schools in the north of the country, including CEG Hubert-Maga and the Notre-Dame de Fatima seminary, as well as in higher education, at the École Normale Supérieure in Porto-Novo. Her career in education was rounded off by her appointment to the Corps of General Secondary School Inspectors. From 2013 to 2016, she was deputy pedagogical inspector (IPD) for the Borgou and Alibori departments. From 2016 to 2019, she was Director of General Secondary Education at the Ministry of Secondary and Technical Education and Professional Training. Balancing her professional endeavours with family life, she is a loving mother of four children.