Benin is making efforts in re-investing in its major port situated in the capital city of Cotonou to make the harbor competitive and efficient. The port often referred to as the Gateway to West Africa is geographically at a vantage position and is in an area of 300 hectares. Importantly, the Port of Cotonou contributes more than 60% of GDP of the country and is the conduit of more than 90% of domestic resources. The government entrusted the management of Cotonou Port Authority with the Port of Antwerp International (PAI), for reorganizing and restructuring the administration; computerization of services; staff training, among other things. The port had the bad reputation of inordinate delays in loading and unloading of cargoes and inefficient handling systems. That did not go well with it as a transit port, which can be accessed by countries like Nigeria and Niger for importing and exporting their goods by transiting through Benin. Presently, shipping operations through the port is uncompetitive on account of the delays and higher cost.
Benin’s main competitors are Togo, which handles 18.3 percent of the cargoes destined to Western Africa. Togo has heavily invested in making the port operations state-of-the-art. The others are Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Tema, Ghana, which can accommodate larger vessels because the basins are deeper and more extensive. The port development plan will entail Euros 450 million and the work is expected to be completed in 2020. The Benin government is committed to make Cotonou’s autonomous port an innovative, secure and reliable logistics platform for international trade.
