The Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) regional transport compacts were agreed upon by the United States, Benin and Niger at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in December.
The deal, signed by MCC Executive Officer Alice Albright, Benin President Patrice Talon, Niger President Mohamed Bazoum and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, constitutes a first-time $504 million regional investment in the Benin-Niger Transport Compact.
The agreement, which represents a major step in advancing trade between the United States and West Africa, is a five-year grant designed to improve the trade corridor between Benin’s port of Cotonou and Niger’s capital Niamey by rehabilitating roads and upgrading freight and customs operations.
“President Talon and President Bazoum, we are thrilled to launch these new partnerships with you,” Blinken said at the U.S.-Africa Business Form. “These compacts will assist in reducing poverty and building an inclusive, sustainable, economic growth in the region.
“The corridors that allow products to move between Niger and Benin, these form a critical foundation for business and also for livelihoods," he added. "The [regional compact] projects will bare the hallmarks of America’s partnerships. They will be transparent, they will be high-quality, they’ll be accountable to the people that they mean to serve, and they will also support good governance."
Blinken concluded, "When completed these projects will make it faster and safer to transport goods along roads and across borders and they’ll connect Benin and Niger to bigger markets and greater opportunities.”
The investment will be further supported by contributions of $15 million each from Benin and Niger. The MCC, an independent U.S. government agency created in 2004 that works to reduce global poverty through economic growth, will invest $202 million in Benin and $302 million in Niger.
The compact has two significant components, the Corridor Infrastructure Project, which includes the rehabilitation and upgrade of approximately 83 kilometers of road between the cities of Bohicon and Dassa, and the Efficient Corridor Operations Project, which will implement reforms by addressing regulatory and administrative factors. These investments are expected to benefit an estimated 1.2 million people.
The Benin-Niger crossing is one of the busiest crossings between coastal and land-locked countries in the region, with an average of 1,000 vehicles per day.
“Connecting vibrant African regional markets is a critical piece of a broader and inclusive strategy to create sustainable economic growth,” Albright said at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum. “Countries can grow faster, create more jobs, and attract additional private-sector investments when they are a part of dynamic regional markets. Nowhere is this more applicable than in West Africa.”
