Talon’s economic reform sparks protest in Benin

COTONOU: Moves to sell off state assets by Benin’s businessman-turned-president Patrice Talon are causing widespread anger, with critics accusing him of “uncontrolled privatization”. The 59-year-old known as “the cotton king” was elected in March last year on a promise to kick-start the economy, which is largely based on farming. But his liberal reforms have met opposition in the tiny West African nation, which borders giant neighbors Nigeria to the east and Niger to the north.

The latest dispute is the government’s decision to hand over the running of the port in the country’s economic hub, Cotonou, to a private company. Talon’s office said the move “aims at positioning the Port of Cotonou as a reference model in the sub-region, which entails modernization work to guarantee better performance”. The presidency told AFP in an email that the private company will have to fulfill a remit under the supervision of the ministry of transport. The port in Cotonou is the main driver of Benin’s economy and brings in some 80 percent of the country’s tax revenue. In recent years it has undergone several changes aimed at improving productivity, such as extending its wharves and installing modern cargo handling equipment. But it struggles to compete with bigger ports such as Lagos in Nigeria, Abidjan in Ivory Coast or Cameroon’s Douala, which have also modernized.

As a result, Cotonou has seen goods traffic fall from 10.5 million tons in 2014 to 8.7 million tons in 2016. Benjamin Steck, a specialist in west African seaports, said Talon “embodies a new generation of African heads of state who share the concept of economic free trade”. That generation understands that multinationals such as the French group Bollore, which has interests in ports across francophone Africa, “has the capital, the worldwide networks and skills” to make infrastructure more competitive, said Steck.