• Islamic Development Bank funds €306.9 million Benin-Togo corridor road upgrade
• Project modernises key Cotonou-Lomé trade route, easing cross-border bottlenecks
• Joint border posts cut truck transit times, improving regional trade efficiency

The Islamic Development Bank has approved €306.89 million in financing for Benin to expand and modernise the Godomey-Ouidah-Hillacondji road, a key artery linking the Cotonou metropolitan area to the Togolese border. The project is part of broader efforts to strengthen road connectivity between Benin and Togo.

The road is one of the most critical sections of the Cotonou-Lomé corridor, itself part of the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, widely regarded as the backbone of trade in West Africa. Stretching over 1,028 km, the corridor is expected to play a central role in shaping trade flows between five major regional economies: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

The modernisation of the Godomey-Hillacondji section is not a standalone project. It builds on a series of coordinated investments by technical and financial partners, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Global Environment Facility and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, aimed at progressively easing bottlenecks along the Benin-Togo border.

According to the AfDB, the first phase of the programme covered the rehabilitation of the Pahou-Ouidah-Hillacondji section and the construction of a joint border post between the two countries. The second phase, implemented on the Togolese side, focused on upgrading the Avepozo-Aného section to dual carriageway standard, ensuring continuity of infrastructure on both sides of the border.

The latest financing from the Islamic Development Bank represents an additional step toward making the corridor fully operational. The objective is to harmonise road standards and improve the efficiency of cross-border trade.

The impact of this integrated approach is already visible. Since their commissioning in 2021, the joint border posts have significantly reduced transit times for freight trucks. AfDB data show that crossing times have fallen from 24 hours to 13 hours and 50 minutes.

Although this performance remains below international benchmarks, it marks a clear departure from previous practices characterised by multiple controls, congestion and high logistics delays. Improvements in road infrastructure, combined with streamlined border procedures, are gradually enhancing the corridor’s competitiveness.

Over the medium term, continued investment along the corridor raises questions around infrastructure resilience, particularly in relation to traffic growth, urban pressure and road safety. It also underscores the need for closer coordination between transport, customs and security policies on both sides of the border.

Henoc Dossa