Benin’s Port of Cotonou Turns to Burkina Faso After 52% Cargo Jump
BENIN · TRADE
Key Facts
- —The country Benin is a small coastal state in West Africa whose Port of Cotonou also serves landlocked Burkina Faso and Niger.
- —What happened The Port of Cotonou’s commercial director said Burkina Faso has become a main transit market, taking nearly 1 million tonnes since 2025.
- —How big Cargo at the Port of Cotonou jumped 52.3% in 2025 to 14.7 million tonnes, finance ministry figures show.
- —Where Niger stands The Benin–Niger land border has been closed since 30 July 2023, but Niger’s crude still ships via Sèmè-Podji.
- —The catch Customs revenue fell 7.2% in the first half of 2026; the ministry lists the closed Niger border among the obstacles.
- —The US link A US government agency is investing US$202 million in Benin’s roads, including 74 kilometres of the corridor toward Niger.
- —What comes next The port says cargo passed 10 million tonnes in the first eight months of 2026, and it targets 25 million.
Burkina Faso has become a main transit market for Benin’s Port of Cotonou, its commercial director told journalists, the Beninese newspaper Le Matinal reported. Nearly 1 million tonnes of goods, mostly petroleum products, have moved through Cotonou to its landlocked neighbour since 2025.
The land border between Benin and Niger, long a busy trade route, has been closed since 30 July 2023. Niger still uses Benin’s coast, but in a different way: it exports crude oil through Sèmè-Podji, near Cotonou.
What the Port of Cotonou Figures Show
Benin’s finance ministry publishes the port’s cargo figures in its budget execution reports. The data come from the Port Autonome de Cotonou (PAC), the state port authority.
The report for 2025 shows 14,696,273 tonnes of goods handled, up 52.3% from 9,651,633 tonnes in 2024. The number of ships that docked rose from 725 to 841.
Imports rose 29.7% to 8.2 million tonnes, and exports jumped 74.8% to 4.7 million tonnes. Transhipment, cargo moved between ships for other ports, more than quadrupled to 1.19 million tonnes.
The ministry credits the export surge mainly to crude oil from Niger, which began loading in May 2024 and flowed all through 2025. It links the transhipment boom to congestion at several major ports in the region.
Growth slowed but continued in 2026. In the first half, the Port of Cotonou handled 7.79 million tonnes, up 16.6% from 6.68 million a year earlier.
Imports were almost flat, up 0.6%. Exports rose 33.3%, which the ministry puts down to output from the Glo-Djigbé special economic zone and to Niger’s crude.
Why Burkina Faso Now Matters to Cotonou
Kevin Potier, the port’s commercial and marketing director, presented the figures on Thursday 1 October at a two-day press event in Cotonou. Transit cargo is freight that lands in Benin but is headed for another country.
“Last year, 39.2% of the traffic was in transit, of which 16% was bound for Burkina Faso,” he said, Le Matinal reported. La Nouvelle Tribune, a Beninese news site, carried the same figures on Monday 5 October.
Since 2025, nearly 1 million tonnes have gone from the Port of Cotonou to Burkina Faso, mostly petroleum products, Potier said. Burkina Faso has no coastline, so its imports must cross a neighbour’s port.
The finance ministry’s 2025 report points the same way. It says imports were lifted partly by liquid bulk for SONABHY, Burkina Faso’s state hydrocarbons company.
Nigeria is now the second-biggest market the port serves, Potier said. Le Matinal reported that congestion at several Nigerian ports, and Benin’s proximity, push cargo through Cotonou.
The port also serves Chad, still in small volumes, and wants a bigger share of that trade.
Niger Still Ships Its Oil Through Benin
Niger’s state news agency, the Agence Nigérienne de Presse (ANP), dates the closure of the land border to 30 July 2023. It followed a military coup in Niger that year.
The two governments began talks on reopening after Benin’s new president, Romuald Wadagni, visited Niger in early June 2026. Niger’s prime minister, Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, set up a committee on Friday 5 June to study a reopening, ANP reported.
The border was still shut on Thursday 10 September, the business news agency Agence Ecofin reported. Benin’s finance ministry lists the closure first among the obstacles that held back customs revenue in the first half of 2026.
Customs collected 378.4 billion CFA francs (US$647 million) in that period. That was 7.2% less than a year earlier, a drop of 29.5 billion CFA francs (US$50 million).
The direction of trade between the two neighbours has flipped, Potier said, according to Le Matinal. Niger now uses the Sèmè-Podji terminal, about 20 kilometres from Cotonou, to export its oil.
Nearly 4.3 million tonnes were handled there in 2025, mostly from Niger. Some goods for Niger still move, and the ministry cites renewed flows in 2025 via northern Benin and by river.
What It Means for US Readers
For US exporters and shipping firms, the Port of Cotonou is a gateway into Burkina Faso and Nigeria, not only Benin. Its growth now rests on several neighbours rather than one.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government aid agency, is investing US$202 million in Benin’s roads. Its compact with Benin has been in force since 17 July 2025.
Benin is adding US$204 million, which MCC says is the first time a partner government has committed more than the agency. The main project will rehabilitate and widen 74 kilometres of road between Bohicon and Dassa-Zoumè.
That road lies on the corridor from the Port of Cotonou to Niamey, Niger’s capital. MCC says the route once carried up to 1,000 vehicles a day.
The agency ended its separate partnership with Niger in June 2024, after the coup there.
For investors in Benin’s debt, the port matters because trade feeds the budget. The first-half customs shortfall shows that more tonnage does not automatically mean more revenue.
What Is Not Known
The ministry’s reports do not break down 2025 tonnage by destination country. Exact volumes for Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Niger therefore remain unclear.
It is also unclear whether the 16% Burkina share is measured against all cargo or only transit cargo. The reports do not say how much of the 52% jump came from Niger’s crude alone.
There is no public date for reopening the Niger border. It is also unclear how quickly cargo for Niger would return to Cotonou if it did.
What Comes Next
Traffic passed 10 million tonnes in the first eight months of 2026, Le Matinal reported from the port’s presentation. Agence Ecofin reported a projection of 16 million to 16.5 million tonnes for the full year.
Le Matinal also reported 12 modernisation projects launched since 2021, worth nearly 500 billion CFA francs (US$855 million). The port’s long-term target is 25 million tonnes a year and more than 1 million standard 20-foot containers.
Benin uses the West African CFA franc. Dollar figures here use about 585 CFA francs to the US dollar on 6 October 2026.
For the wider picture, see how the port and new factories drove Benin’s growth in 2025 and Benin explained for newcomers.
More: Africa news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much cargo did the Port of Cotonou handle in 2025?
About 14.7 million tonnes, up 52.3% from 9.65 million tonnes in 2024, according to Benin’s finance ministry. In the first half of 2026 it handled 7.79 million tonnes, up 16.6%.
Why does Burkina Faso use Benin’s port?
Burkina Faso has no coastline, so its imports must cross a neighbour’s port. Nearly 1 million tonnes, mostly petroleum products, have moved through the Port of Cotonou to Burkina Faso since 2025.
Is the border between Benin and Niger open?
No. It has been closed since 30 July 2023. Agence Ecofin reported it still shut on 10 September 2026, despite talks that began in June.
Does Niger still use Benin’s coast?
Yes, for oil. Niger exports crude through the Sèmè-Podji terminal near Cotonou, where nearly 4.3 million tonnes were handled in 2025, mostly from Niger.
Is the United States involved in the Port of Cotonou corridor?
Yes. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US government aid agency, is investing US$202 million in Benin’s roads. That includes 74 kilometres on the route toward Niamey.
Sources: La Nouvelle Tribune, 5 October 2026; Ministry of Economy and Finance of Benin, budget execution report to 31 December 2025 (port data: PAC), 27 March 2026; Ministry of Economy and Finance of Benin, budget execution report to 30 June 2026 (port data: PAC), 16 September 2026; Le Matinal, 6 October 2026; Agence Nigérienne de Presse, 5 June 2026; Agence Ecofin, 10 September 2026; Agence Ecofin, 4 October 2026; Millennium Challenge Corporation, Benin Regional Transport Compact, 6 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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