Port of Antwerp International (PAI), the consultancy and investment subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority, has been appointed by the Council of Ministers of the West African country of Benin to modernise the port of Cotonou. This port is the economic heart of Benin, handling an annual freight volume of around 12 million tonnes.
In the longer term, the port authority wants the port to grow further, but both the infrastructure and the organization are outdated. The government therefore decided to temporarily outsource the management of the port, so that a reformed port authority could fully compete with the surrounding ports.
The importance of West Africa for the port of Antwerp can hardly be underestimated. Antwerp has the highest proportion of direct services to West Africa of all ports in Northwest Europe, which translates into a market share of almost 50%.
At the beginning of January, PAI signs the agreement in Cotonou, while it currently seeks to recruit eight expats who will carry out the task on the ground. The main task will be to modernise the port authority in organisational terms, renovate the obsolescent facilities and prepare for and guide the expansion of the port, explained Kristof Waterschoot, managing director of PAI.
In the short term, PAI will take over some key functions within the port authority, in order to study the processes from the inside.
First task to stop piracy in this area