Cotonou: Some Problems of Port Development in Dahomey

Abstract

In April 1965 the pier at Cotonou, through which the bulk of Dahomey’s external trade had passed for almost three-quarters of a century, finally closed down and was replaced by a deep-water port, the most recent of its kind on the West African coast. Other deep-water terminals were already in service along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea: Lagos (1903), Takoradi (1928), Abidjan (1950) and Tema (1962), but the addition of Cotonou to this pattern is of interest from several viewpoints. The unique characteristics of the physical setting and the historical development of maritime transport in Dahomey provide a general framework. Technical and political problems involved in the development of the new port are of interest; and it is possible now to comment upon some of the effects of the opening of the port upon the general economic situation in Dahomey (where the growth of overseas trade in recent years has not been very encouraging), and more specifically upon the town of Cotonou, the coastal fishing communities of Lake Nokoué and the Porto Novo lagoon, and finally upon various social problems raised by the development of this new element in West Africa’s transport infrastructure.