How China will play a major role in Benin’s economic growth as a new era is ushered in
African nation’s new president is banking on Chinese investment to help fix its infrastructure gap with large-scale construction projects
At the Autonomous Port of Cotonou, China Harbour Engineering Company is advancing Terminal 5, a project that involves reclaiming land from the sea and building two 100,000-tonne general purpose berths.
Beyond municipal upgrades, Chinese firms are building strategic corridors across the country. These include a 60km (37-mile) highway in the central region linking Savalou and Bante, built by China Road and Bridge Corporation, and a 184km “cotton road” running through the main cotton-producing belt in the far north near the Niger border.
The northern corridor is constructed by Sinohydro Corporation and backed by the China-supported Africa Growing Together Fund. The works form part of a broader multibillion-dollar modernising drive that has reshaped the country’s main commercial gateways over the last decade.