Burkina Faso has become one of the main destinations for transit cargo through the Port of Cotonou, even as the diplomatic rift between Benin and Niger continues to disrupt trade between the two neighbours. Nearly 1 million tonnes of goods, mostly hydrocarbons, have moved through the Beninese port to Burkina Faso since 2025, Agence Ecofin reported on 4 October, citing the Port Autonome de Cotonou (PAC).
What the port reports
PAC commercial director Kévin Potier presented the figures at Média Connect 2026. Transit accounted for 39.2% of the port’s traffic last year, with 16% going to Burkina Faso.
The phrasing leaves one point open: whether the 16% refers to total traffic or to transit alone. The available totals point to the second reading. Transit at 39.2% of 14.7 million tonnes is about 5.8 million tonnes, and 1 million tonnes is roughly 17% of that, by TMG’s calculation.
Nigeria now ranks as Cotonou’s second market. Persistent congestion in Nigerian ports and Cotonou’s proximity make the Beninese platform an alternative for part of that cargo.
Chad is a third, smaller target. N’Djamena has been seeking to diversify its supply routes as constraints persist on its corridor to Douala. A delegation of the Chadian Shippers’ Council visited Cotonou in July 2025.
Niger has not disappeared from the picture
Niger remains part of Cotonou’s trade, but the direction of its flows has partly reversed. Niamey now uses the Sèmè-Podji platform, about 20 kilometres from Cotonou, to export its crude oil.
Sèmè-Podji handled close to 4.3 million tonnes of oil last year, most of it from Niger. The reports do not say whether these volumes are counted in Cotonou’s port totals or recorded separately, a distinction that matters for any comparison with traffic before the rift.
Benin’s own exports are also changing the port’s profile. The Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ) is producing new goods for export markets.
Traffic is recovering strongly
Total traffic fell to 9.6 million tonnes in 2024, then rose to 14.7 million tonnes in 2025, with 9 million tonnes of imports, 5.7 million tonnes of exports and more than 500,000 TEU of containers.
In the first half of 2026, the port handled 7.7 million tonnes. Exports reached 2.87 million tonnes, up from 2.16 million tonnes a year earlier. Cumulative traffic passed 10 million tonnes over the first eight months.
The port projects 16 to 16.5 million tonnes for 2026, based on growth of 10% to 15% over the same period of 2025. This is a forecast, not a result.
Behind this recovery is an investment programme launched in 2021, covering 12 major projects worth about 500 billion FCFA (around $859 million). The port’s long-term targets are 25 million tonnes and more than 1 million TEU.
New outlets still have to prove durable
The Cotonou case shows how exposed a regional port is when a large share of its business depends on a few corridors. When relations with Niger broke down, new outlets protected volumes more than capacity investment did.
Those flows have yet to settle. The shift towards Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Chad does not automatically make up for the volumes historically tied to Niger. Land corridor competitiveness, logistics costs and the speed of customs procedures will decide whether shippers stay, while other Gulf of Guinea ports compete for the same landlocked markets.
The Burkina Faso flow carries its own risk. It is concentrated in hydrocarbons and depends on a road corridor exposed to security conditions in the Sahel.
What to watch
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Confirmation of whether the 16% Burkina Faso share refers to total traffic or to transit.
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Full-year 2026 traffic against the 16 to 16.5 million tonne projection.
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The breakdown of transit by destination and cargo type, particularly the share of hydrocarbons.
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Volumes through Sèmè-Podji and how they are recorded relative to Cotonou.
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Any change in Benin–Niger relations that would restore import flows towards Niamey.
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Progress on the 12-project investment programme and the 25 million tonne target.