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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Dendi of Benin

The Dendi of Benin, numbering approximately 345,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnic group with roots in the Sahel Songhai Empire of the 15th and 16th centuries, indigenous to Benin and Nigeria They are an Indigenous people, with Dendi (Dandawa) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Songhai people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam. They primarily speak Dendi (Benin).

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Dendi

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Songhai
Primary Language(s): Dendi (Benin) (ddn)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 345,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012316
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Pray for the Dendi of Benin

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dendi (Benin)
Language Family: Songhay

100%
%
Dendi (Benin) Speakers

Media Resources in Dendi (Benin):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Dendi (Benin):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2018 Bibles International✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dendi (Benin) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Dendi are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Dendi:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Dendi of Benin

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:5-6

Pray that the lost among them will be delivered from the confusion of false beliefs and come to know the one true God who alone brings light and purpose to their lives.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Dendi Across Countries (ROP3 - 102513) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DendiPG012316DendiBenin345,000Engaged yet UnreachedDendi (Benin)Folk Islam
DendiPG013598DendiNiger157,000Engaged yet UnreachedDendi (Benin)Folk Islam
DendiPG013734DendiNigeria4,100Unengaged and UnreachedDendi (Benin)Folk Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

*Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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