Nassirou Bako-Arifari

Nassirou Bako Arifari (born 30 October 1962) is a Beninese politician and academic who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin from 2011 to 2015. He came from an academic background before entering politics.

== Early life and academic career ==

Arifari was born on 30 October 1962 in Karimama in the Alibori Department of northern Benin. Educated locally, he earned a baccalaureat in Kandi and served in the military. He earned a master's degree in history at the Université Nationale du Bénin in 1989. He obtained a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences at the Aix-Marseille University in 1994. After further study in Germany, Arifari returned to Marseille and earned a PhD in Sociology and Social Anthropology in 1999.

He was a Senior Lecturer in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Abomey and associate lecturer at the University of Cologne in Germany. Arifari was Scientific Director of the Laboratory of Studies and Research on Social Dynamics and Local Development (LASDEL-Benin). He has written several studies including on decentralization and local authorities in rural Benin and Niger, anthropological analyses of corruption in West Africa and the...