Port of Cotonou Renovation, Modernization and Expansion Public Private Partnership Project

T he Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is supporting the African Development Bank and Port Autonome de Cotonou in identifying, appraising, and integrating climate adaptation measures in the current expansion project of the Port of Cotonou in Benin. GCA is providing this support under the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).

GCA provided a high-granularity climate risk assessment for the Port of Cotonou, enabling the detailed quantification of the direct impacts of climate hazards on the assets and operations (damages and revenue losses due to operations disruptions) under different climate change scenarios. Downstream socio-economic effects of port disruption caused by future climate hazards were also evaluated.

From this analysis, GCA proposed a prioritized set of economically viable adaptation measures mitigating the identified risks. The physical, social, and institutional measures identified minimize damages and operations downtime and indirectly reduce job insecurity and the number of jobs at risk because of climate change. Altogether, these measures help improve the livelihood of Cotonou’s fishery community and strengthen the position of women in the Port of Cotonou organization.

GCA’s technical analysis was delivered as an investment rationale, highlighting and quantifying the costs and clear benefits of investing in such adaptation measures. The financing rationale provided by GCA successfully supported the African Development Bank’s request for adaptation finance for these adaptation and resilience interventions.

Investment Value Influenced by GCA

US$106.50 million

Beneficiaries

100 million people benefiting from the port

Implementation Period

2022-2025

Partners

GCA’s Added Value

GCA technical support includes:

  • Assessing climate hazards to port assets, services, and surrounding natural areas
  • Identifying priority recommendations for integrating adaptation and resilience into the project design, construction, and operations
  • Assisting the African Development Bank in developing a strong rationale to request concessional funds for financing the necessary adaptation and resilience interventions

Expected Outcomes

GCA’s support will climate-proof the investment and reinforce the following project outcomes:

  • Increase the volume of cargo handled annually from 10.1 to 13.5 metric tons
  • Directly foster the import/export of agricultural-based inputs and farm produce through the port
  • Contribute to the GDP growth of Benin where revenues from the port already account for 45% of the economy