Dahomeyan Progressive Union

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Dahomeyan Progressive Union (UPD) was a political party in Dahomey (now Benin). Its French name was Union Progressiste Dahoméenne. The UPD was founded in April 1946 by Augustin Kokou Azango and Émile Derlin Zinsou, and it was the territory’s first political party.

At first, the UPD was connected to the African Democratic Rally (RDA), but it broke that link in 1948. A split in 1946 led to the African People’s Bloc, yet the UPD still won the 1946–47 General Council elections, taking 20 of the 30 seats.

Between 1950 and 1951, Hubert Maga left to form the Ethnic Group of the North, and Sourou-Migan Apithy left to establish the Republican Party of Dahomey. After losing the 1952 Territorial Assembly elections to the Republican Party of Dahomey, the UPD allied with the African People’s Bloc, which helped create the Dahomeyan Democratic Union in 1955.

Ideology: Nationalism. International affiliation: Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) until 1948. The UPD was dissolved in 1955 and merged into the Dahomeyan Democratic Union.