APA-Cotonou (Benin) Since the closure of the borders between Benin and Niger following the putsch of 26 July 2023, no goods have left the port of Cotonou for Niamey.
Bart Jozef Johan Van EENOO, Director of the Autonomous Port of Cotonou (PAC), has issued an announcement suspending the importation of goods to Niger.
“For operational and congestion reasons, the loading of goods after 25 October 2023 at the ports of origin bound for Niger has been suspended at the Port of Cotonou until further notice,” the statement said.
The director of the PAC is proposing solutions to economic operators whose goods destined for Niger are blocked at the port.
Van EENOO has already pointed out that on 18 October, facilities were granted to importers in this situation. They can send their goods blocked in Benin to another country.
Niger, a country without a coastline, receives most of its imports through the port of Cotonou.
The thousand kilometres that separate Cotonou from the capital of Niger are covered by the thousands of trucks that transport goods to Niamey.
However, since the coup which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on 26 July, this trade has been interrupted by the decision of the Economic Community of West African States to close its borders with this central Sahel country.
RK/ac/fss/as/APA