Singer Ciara Receives Benin Citizenship After Tracing Her African Roots

Nationwide — Grammy Award-winning American singer Ciara has officially become a citizen of Benin, making her one of the first high-profile individuals to receive citizenship under a new law aimed at reconnecting descendants of enslaved Africans with their ancestral roots. The ceremony took place in the city of Cotonou, where Benin’s Justice Minister Yvon Détchénou hailed the law as a powerful act of “justice, belonging, and hope.”

According to AP News, Benin’s new legislation, enacted in September, offers citizenship to people over 18 who can prove their lineage to ancestors taken from sub-Saharan Africa through the transatlantic slave trade. Applicants must not already hold another African nationality and can present DNA test results, verified family records, or sworn testimonies to qualify. To facilitate the process, the government recently launched a digital application portal called My Afro Origins.

The West African country’s initiative is part of a larger national movement to address its historical role in the slave trade while also fostering stronger ties with the global Black diaspora. From the 1600s to the 1800s, an estimated 1.5 million people were taken from the region known as the Bight of Benin — which includes parts of present-day Benin, Nigeria, and Togo — and sold into slavery by European merchants with active participation from local kings and tribal groups.

Benin has taken steps over the years to publicly acknowledge this painful history. In the 1990s, it hosted international conferences to explore its slave-trading legacy. In 1999, then-President Mathieu Kérékou personally apologized to African Americans during a visit to a church in Baltimore, Maryland — a rare and symbolic gesture among African leaders.

A major part of Benin’s outreach includes “memorial tourism,” focused on slavery remembrance. Sites in the coastal city of Ouidah — once a central slave port — now serve as places of reflection and education. These include the marked Slave Route and the solemn Door of No Return, where countless Africans took their final steps on the continent before being shipped overseas.

Following her citizenship ceremony, Ciara visited these historic landmarks, including walking the Slave Route to the Door of No Return. Reflecting on her experience, she said, “Between emotion, reflection, and heritage, I experienced a profound return to what truly matters.”

Benin hopes this initiative will encourage more descendants of the African diaspora to explore their origins, reconnect with their heritage, and consider making the country their second home.