(Ecofin Agency) - Benin government has just hired the Port of Antwerp to manage its port in Cotonou for ten years. The agreement has been signed on January 8, 2018, by Benin authorities and the Belgian delegation at Palais de la Marina.

“We have just signed an agreement to manage the Port of Cotonou. The idea behind this contract is to accompany the port of Cotonou with the expertise of that of Antwerp in order to make it one of the most efficient port in West Africa", Kristof Waterschoot, managing director of the port of Antwerp, has said.

According to the manager, in the framework of this agreement, the infrastructures of the port of Cotonou, which freights more than 12 million tons per year, will be upgraded. They will also manage the port area, strengthen the capacities of the local team and, above all, computerize the data system.

With this agreement, the government of Benin aims to boost activities in the port which is not only crucial to the country’s economy but also a strategic gateway for landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali.  

“This management contract is broken into two periods. The first consists of 3 years, to allow the agent to settle. The second stage which is the operational stage will extend over a period of 3 years renewable twice. Altogether, the port of Antwerp will manage the one of Cotonou for 9 years, the initiation phase excluded”, according to Cyr Koty, Benin’s minister of infrastructures and transport.

He also indicates that the performance indicators which will serve as the gauge between the parties involved will soon be specified.

Fiacre E. Kakpo