The African Development Bank and the Autonomous Port of Cotonou (PAC) have signed a funding settlement of EUR 80 million to modernize services and lengthen the infrastructure of the port in Benin’s financial capital.
The settlement was signed on 12 February 2025 by the Director of the African Development Bank’s Infrastructure and Urban Development Department, Mike Salawou, and Baart Van Eenoo, Managing Director of Pac.
The funding will assist PAC to implement its Master Plan for 2021-2026, a five-year funding programme aimed toward renovating and changing out of date port infrastructure, growing its capability and bettering its high quality of service to draw extra visitors.
The African Development Bank is mobilizing EUR 55 million, plus EUR 25 million from the Africa Growing Together Fund, a particular fund supported by the Bank and the People’s Bank of China. In addition, USD 18.3 million are offered by the Canada – African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF). The fund, supported by Canada, funds local weather tasks by supporting sustainable growth and social inclusion.
The CACF will even present technical help to advertise gender equality and girls’s empowerment.
Left to proper: Baart Van Eenoo, Managing Director of the Autonomous Port of Cotonou (PAC) and Mike Salawou, the Director of the African Development Bank’s Infrastructure and Urban Development Department, signal the funding settlement for the modernization and growth of the PAC in Cotonou on 12 February 2025.
“The funding from the African Development Bank will enable PAC to instigate its master plan with two key projects: the creation of a new, 25-hectare terminal on land reclaimed from the sea and a new, smart, 14-hectare buffer parking area to manage lorry movements in and out of the port. This will allow the port to transfer its current activities to the new areas, paving the way to the next steps in its ambitious master plan,” commented Van Eenoo.
“The signing of this agreement marks an important step in the development of the PAC and the economy of Benin, with positive knock-on effects for trade, competitiveness, job creation and social inclusion,” emphasised Salawou.
This is the primary private-sector infrastructure venture funded by the Bank in Benin utilizing hybrid local weather finance. It will assist to strengthen the competitiveness of the port, which is a key financial hub for the West African nation within the Gulf of Guinea. Among different issues, it plans to construct a bulk terminal (T5), extending it by 25 hectares for the storage of bulk and different items. The works will embody dredging the basin, widening the entry channel and lengthening the terminal’s western sea wall.
The venture additionally goals to increase the Zongo parking space and centralize lorry entry with automated gates. Building a lorry park on the Zongo web site with an built-in, digitized administration system linked to the port’s databases and the Single Foreign Trade Platform (GUCE) will enhance visitors flows and velocity up items dealing with.
Group photograph following the signature of the funding settlement between the African Development Bank Group and the PAC in Cotonou on 12 February 2025.
Modernizing the port will improve the amount of products dealt with and scale back ready instances for ships. Implementing the adjustments will help job creation and make use of Beninese companies through the development and operational phases. The venture will even strengthen regional integration by bettering commerce throughout the sub-region.
The Cotonou port, one among West Africa’s Atlantic Ocean most important platforms, acts as a transit level for landlocked nations corresponding to Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Source African Development Bank Group
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