Africa economy
Benin bets on multidimensional tourism
Audio 02:12
In Benin, Togbin beach.
AFP PHOTO / Carriage VIDJINGNINOU
By: Olivier Rogez Follow
2 mins
All this week, Africa economy is looking at the systemic transformations of the Beninese economy.
Tourism is one of the sectors favored by the authorities.
A seaside, cultural, memorial and safari tourism.
The State intends to make it a source of growth and has agreed to major investments over the past six years.
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Olanma Ojukwu is Nigerian, she has lived in Benin for more than twenty years, she created a travel agency there called Gota Voyage.
Its privileged clientele: Nigerians who come to spend the weekend on the beaches of Benin: “
There are many, many Nigerians who come.
Gota has a package we call “Weekend Gateway”.
They leave Nigeria on Friday and return there on Sunday evening.
»
In Lagos town alone, located 120 kilometers from Cotonou, there are, according to Olanma Ojukwu, five or six million customers who have sufficient purchasing power to afford a vacation in Benin.
What seduces them is first of all the tranquility and the art of living: “
Cotonou by night, Benin by night, you are not afraid to move around at any time.
The beaches we have here are clean, there is security, you can go anytime, which is not really possible in Nigeria.
»
"
Benin has no oil, has no gold, has no diamonds, but it has an enormous historical, artistic and cultural heritage, which we have never given a chance...
" José Pliya is the managing director of the Heritage Promotion and Tourism Development Agency.
It is he who for six years has been setting the tourism policy decided by the president to music.
The first axis consists in strengthening the heritage and cultural offer.
To give you an idea, we are on a museum of international stature at 25 million euros in Abomey.
We are on the renovation of the Portuguese fort of Ouidah, within which there will be the international museum of the Memory of slavery.
Then we will have the International Voodoo Museum in Porto-Novo, 100% Beninese funding.
And we end with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cotonou for ten billion (CFA francs, editor's note) with Benin's own funding.
Tourist accommodation being the weak link in the chain, the State is investing massively in the construction of hotels and places of residence.
Because alongside cultural and memorial niches, Benin offers a seaside offer and a safari offer with the Pendjari park.
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