The Port of Cotonou has long been described as a gateway dependent mainly on trade with its Sahel hinterland. That description no longer fits. In 2025, the port handled 14.7 million tonnes of cargo, up from 9.6 million in 2024 a jump of 52 percent. Transshipment exploded by 312.6 percent, and exports rose by 74.8 percent. The number of vessels calling at the port climbed from 725 to 841. These figures raise a strategic question: can Cotonou sustain its momentum even as the corridor to Niger remains disrupted?
The bet on multiple trade routes
Historically, the port’s fortunes were tied to a single corridor the road and rail links serving Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. When that corridor was shaken by the border closure between Benin and Niger, many expected a slowdown. Instead, activity continued to expand. This resilience suggests that Cotonou now draws on several engines of growth, not just one.
The port is no longer content to wait for goods from its landlocked neighbours. It is actively pursuing redistribution flows, transshipment, exports and trade with other markets in the sub-region. The surge in transshipment is the clearest signal: in the first half of 2026, transshipment reached about 516,558 tonnes, compared with 204,928 tonnes in the same period of 2025 a rise of 152.1 percent. Cotonou is positioning itself not only as an entry point for Benin-bound cargo but as a platform for redistributing goods to other destinations.
Resilience amid regional shocks
The port’s performance must be read against a backdrop of trade and diplomatic tensions that have disrupted West African corridors. A significant share of hinterland trade was disturbed by tensions with Niger. Yet overall traffic kept rising. This suggests that investments in infrastructure, equipment modernisation, digitalisation and logistics chain improvements are beginning to pay off.
The port authority has launched a broad transformation programme, including Terminal 5, the expansion of the port basin, quay upgrades and improved access roads. The stated goal is to increase handling capacity and accommodate larger vessels. The African Development Bank is supporting this effort, with financing of around 60 billion CFA francs mobilised for Terminal 5 as well as the centralised access and Zongo parking area, aimed at smoothing cargo movements and boosting the platform’s competitiveness.
Reducing dependence on a single corridor
This may be the most important element of the transformation. The port’s strategy is gradually to multiply its outlets so as to reduce vulnerability linked to dependence on a single corridor. Cotonou enjoys a favourable geographical position: it can serve the Beninese market, the hinterland economies and part of the trade with Nigeria and other regional markets.
Diversification matters all the more because international trade is now subject to increasingly frequent disruptions: security crises, diplomatic tensions, border closures, rising logistics costs and the reorganisation of supply chains. In this new environment, a high-performing port is no longer just one that handles a lot of cargo. It is one that can attract new flows, process them quickly, redistribute them and keep operating despite regional shocks. That is precisely where Cotonou is trying to reposition itself.
An engine for Benin’s economy
The importance of the Port of Cotonou goes far beyond its quays and terminals. Its activity feeds an entire economic chain: road transport, stevedoring, transit, warehousing, insurance, banking, customs, commerce, catering, maintenance, digital services and a multitude of related activities. Every increase in port traffic can therefore have a knock-on effect across several sectors of the national economy.
The port is also a vital tool for the competitiveness of Beninese businesses. A more efficient port infrastructure reduces delays, improves the predictability of operations and makes it easier for companies to access international markets. That is why the modernisation of the port should be seen not merely as an investment in infrastructure but as an investment in Benin’s productive and commercial capacity. The modernisation programme launched several years ago represents more than 450 million euros of medium-term investment, according to the Port of Cotonou.
Exports and the Glo-Djigbé industrial zone
Another important shift is the rise of Beninese exports. In the first half of 2026, exports handled by the Port of Cotonou reached about 2.87 million tonnes, up from 2.16 million a year earlier a rise of 33.3 percent. This dynamic is linked in particular to increased industrial output and exports of Nigerian crude oil.
This evolution is strategic for Benin. The more the country develops its industrial processing and export capacity, the more the port becomes an essential instrument of this new economy. The development of the Glo-Djigbé industrial zone, rising production capacity and the search for new markets give the port an additional function: supporting Benin’s shift from an economy focused mainly on re-export trade towards one driven more by production and exports of processed goods.
A strategic advantage for Benin
The true success of the Port of Cotonou will therefore not be measured solely in tonnes handled. It will be measured by its ability to attract economic operators over the long term, secure supply chains, gain market share in the sub-region and become an essential platform for West African trade.
The early results are encouraging. The Container Port Performance Index compiled by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence ranked Cotonou 303rd out of 403 ports in 2024, compared with 402nd out of 405 ports in 2023 a climb of nearly 100 places in a single year.
Challenges remain: further improving corridor fluidity, reducing logistics costs, strengthening security, continuing digitalisation and winning back certain hinterland markets. But one thing now seems hard to deny: the Port of Cotonou is no longer simply defending its historical positions. It is seeking to conquer new ones.
Rising traffic, soaring transshipment, growing exports and infrastructure investment are gradually drawing a new map of regional outlets. For Benin, the challenge goes beyond the performance of a single port. It is about consolidating one of the main levers of its economy, attracting more regional trade and making Cotonou a platform capable of connecting Benin durably to the major commercial circuits of West Africa. The Port of Cotonou is no longer content to watch goods pass by: it now aims to become one of the crossing points that organise their movement across the region.
