For months, Benin has been blocking a pipeline set to export crude oil from Niger to China. Now the trade dispute appears to have been resolved with China’s mediation.
Benin’s concession was a decisive step toward resolving a trade conflict between the West African neighbors that threatened to cause significant economic damage to both countries.
The rapprochement came through the mediation of the Chinese government and the Chinese companies operating the newly inaugurated pipeline between Agadem, in eastern Niger, and Seme Kpodji, in southern Benin.
In recent months, the closure of the Niger-Benin border has primarily affected Benin’s state revenues and increased food costs, which led to protests over the high cost of living.
Niger’s military coup triggered crisis
Tensions between West African neighbors Niger and Benin began with the July 2023 military coup in Niger and the arrest of the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
West African bloc ECOWAS condemned the coup and imposed sanctions on the Nigerien military regime led by General Abdourahamane Tiani.
In Benin, the protests against the coup leaders were particularly explicit. Beninese President Patrice Talon loudly demanded Bazoum’s reinstatement and even advocated for a military intervention by ECOWAS troops against the coup leaders in Niger.
Niger’s military leaders responded promptly by closing the borders with Benin.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel Regional Program at the Bonn-based Konrad Adenauer Foundation think tank, who recently visited Niger, told DW there is a certain degree of paranoia in Niger.
“There are Nigerien army troops stationed at the border with Benin. The Nigerien government is still afraid that ECOWAS or France could try to reinstall the ousted president through military intervention.”
Trade war between Niger, Benin
Trade between Niger and Benin has practically come to a standstill, resulting in significant financial losses, especially on the Beninese side.
Before the coup, almost all of Niger’s imports — food, cars, consumer goods — traveled through Benin’s port of Cotonou.
Alternative routes, such as through Togo’s port of Lome and then through Burkina Faso, were considered complicated, not to mention unsafe due to an Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso.
Despite the risks, Niger increasingly shifted its imports through Burkina Faso and expanded its cooperation with the country that a military junta has ruled since a violent coup in January 2022.
The fact that Burkina Faso and Niger were politically and economically approaching each other while trade relations between Niger and Benin were collapsing raised eyebrows in Benin.
Source; DW News
