No loading of Nigerien crude from the Sèmè Kpodji terminal, if Niger keeps its border closed. This is the condition set by Benin led by Patrice Talon for the continuation of cooperation linked to the operation of the oil pipeline between the two countries in cold weather since July 2023.
Cotonou attempted a rapprochement after the lifting of ECOWAS sanctions, by opening its border on February 26, 2024.
But the Nigerien neighbor remained stuck to his position. The barriers remain. The first liters of black gold pumped in Agadem, Niger, landed in the facilities of the Sèmè Kraké station in April. With this decision, the ships that should take over for the export of this oil are blocked.
The Chinese ambassador to Benin Peng Jingtao and the Wapco company, in charge of managing the oil pipeline, are informed of this decision. The Benin/Niger pipeline represents more than 600 billion CFA francs invested by this company.
In Niger, the country’s new strong men have reacted to this new decision and are calling on China to resolve the situation.
On Radio France International this Wednesday, May 8, 2024, the President of Benin, Patrice Talon, returned to the situation of fragile relations between Cotonou and Niamey.
In his remarks, the Beninese Head of State justified his decision to prohibit the loading of Nigerien oil from the Sèmè-Podji platform.
Indeed, Patrice Talon first mentioned all the steps he took to normalize relations between the two sister countries, Benin and Niger. The Beninese number 1 indicated that despite the opening of the borders on the Benin side, the sending of messages and above all, the sending of the head of Beninese diplomacy Olushegun Bakari to Niamey, he received no response from the authorities of the Nigerien transition.
Moreover, complaining all the same about the current state of relations between his country and Niger, Patrice Talon, thinks that the “exchanges between countries must be done in a formal and structured manner,“ according to RFI. He recalls that it was the Chinese who kept him informed of the official arrival of the Nigerien delegation for the inauguration of the pipeline, reports our colleague Jean-Luc Aplogan, RFI correspondent in Cotonou.
On the question of the importation of cereals from Benin to Niger, “we cannot be seen as enemies and want our collaboration and our means”indicated Patrice Talon.
“I am saddened by the tense relations between Niger and Benin, two friendly and brotherly countries,” regretted the Beninese Head of State. “Taking Benin as an enemy country and spreading the fact that it has massed foreign troops on its borders to attack Niger is totally ridiculous”, he concluded on the subject.
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