• AIIB approves $200M for Benin’s Greater Nokoué urban mobility project
  
  
• Plan includes road upgrades, public buses, smart traffic and lagoon transport
  
  
• Project targets pollution, congestion and integration of informal transport workers
  

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved 200 million dollars in financing for Benin’s Greater Nokoué Sustainable Urban Mobility Project, which aims to improve mobility for people and goods in the country’s main urban and administrative hub.

 The project, co-funded by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), will help build a more efficient, multimodal transport network by upgrading roads, introducing public buses, deploying smart traffic-management systems and expanding lagoon transport infrastructure.

 One part of the programme focuses on integrating private operators, including motorcycle-taxi drivers known locally as Zémidjans or Kèkènon, and minibus operators known as Tokpa Tokpa, through the gradual electrification of motorbikes and dedicated professional training.

 Greater Nokoué, home to around 2.6 million people –roughly 20 percent of Benin’s population – generates more than a third of the country’s GDP, according to a World Bank report. The region faces major transport pressures, including rapid motorisation, inadequate infrastructure, limited public transport, chronic congestion, road-safety problems and worsening air pollution.

 Its population is expected to reach 3 million by 2030, which could intensify these challenges without deeper reforms. For Beninese authorities, the PMUD-GN is a key strategy for addressing these growing pressures.

 The plan also emphasises sustainability at a time when air quality is deteriorating sharply. Much of the fuel imported informally from Nigeria is low-quality, contributing to pollution levels up to four times higher than World Health Organization standards, according to the World Bank.

Henoc Dossa