This is a strong signal of reconciliation between Niamey and Cotonou. On October 16, the Beninese government approved Kakade Chaibou as extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Niger to Benin, with residence in Cotonou. Niamey had already done the same on August 6 for the installation of Beninese Gildas Agonkan in Niger. Two appointments which confirm the diplomatic warming between the two neighbors after months of tensions.
Good news from a diplomatic point of view, but also for the inhabitants and economic players of two countries. “It is indeed very important that, from a political, diplomatic point of view, from a strategic point of view, that relations go for the best, because obviously that has an impact on the economic aspects,” insists, on DW, Régis Hounkpè, political analyst and teacher in geopolitics.
Resumption of oil transport
At stake in particular: the export of oil, which links the two nations in strategic interdependence. Last May, Benin banned the loading of oil from Niger at the port of Cotonou, in reaction to the closure of the border with Benin by Niger. A ban then lifted. A first boat was loaded with barrels of oil in August. “I believe that it is a thaw measure, I even think that it is the resolution of this diplomatic problem which led to the appointment of these two ambassadors who will then continue the thaw of this situation so that the two States can work hand in hand and then harmonize economic points of view”, analyzes economist Rodrigue Rustico.
“It’s going as planned.”
Since Benin’s lifting of the ban on the loading operation, no less than four vessels have already transported Nigerien crude oil from the Sèmè platform to the refinery site. The last loading of more than 150 thousand m3 of crude oil dates back to October 8. “If it has resumed, it is because it is happening as planned,” confirms Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, spokesperson for the Beninese government. For him, the success of these exports clearly signals the beginning of a thaw. “All parties playing their part, on the Beninese side as on the Nigerien side and even on the Chinese side, to date, I have not heard of any friction, of any situation that would be likely to harm the good economy of this file. So I think everything is going as it should.”
Economic relations between Benin and Niger go well beyond oil, with trade affecting agriculture and manufactured products, but hydrocarbons remain the pillar of this cooperation. The new diplomatic dynamic could therefore further strengthen these exchanges.
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