H.E. José Didier Tonato is a Beninese politician and urban planner who has held significant ministerial roles in the government of President Patrice Talon. Born in Grand-Popo, a coastal town in the Mono Department of southern Benin, Tonato has a background in urban planning and founded an agency specializing in urban development, land management, decentralization, and environmental policies.His political career began in 1999 when he served as Deputy Director and later Director of Cabinet at the Ministry of Environment, Habitat, and Urbanism. In 2004, he became the UN-Habitat Programme Manager for Benin. From 2009 to 2010, he coordinated a World Bank study on land governance in Benin and also worked as a national expert for the European Union's PACTE project. Between 2013 and 2016, he served as the Chief Urban Development Planner at the African Development Bank.