Maritime Affairs Centre: The new face of the port area

Benin’s transformation continues with the president’s government Patrice Talon who dreams big, with achievements that command respect. Therefore, Benin will have a Maritime Affairs Center in the coming months which will bring a new face to the port area. An area that did not reflect the image of a country aiming for development, with old unhealthy buildings, food vendors left and right, in the middle of trucks parked everywhere. Located near the port, on the strategic axis of Boulevard de la Marina, the Maritime Business Center intends to offer a functional solution with a view to giving new impetus to public and private structures working in close collaboration with the ‘ the autonomous port of Cotonou. This Center is not just a workplace. It is a place of exchange and creativity for high-performance companies that want collaborative working methods, according to details provided by Koffi and Diabaté group, the company in charge of the work. With a total amount of 46.2 billion CFA francs, this project aims to provide more space to improve the flexibility of port operations, bring together all the main players in the port platform and create a more efficient working framework to all the actors. So these are three buildings that are expected to be in place for the Autonomous Port of Cotonou, public structures and private companies in the maritime sector. In particular, one building is dedicated to public structures, another to private structures and the last one to the port administration. There will be commercial buildings with banking institutions, insurance structures, a data center, a police station and customs offices. The center also has dining, co-working and conference spaces and a 276-space car park. A building that will now help reduce congestion at the port and improve its productivity with a functional solution for players in the maritime sector. This will promote a relaxed working atmosphere, which is favorable to the well-being of the residents, and will encourage more fluid communication, to improve the performance and creativity of teams. With bioclimatic architecture, the site also includes green areas and terraces. The work which is at the completion stage has started in 2022 for two years