The implementation of the recommended material resources in the context of facilitating exchanges between ECOWAS countries in general and between Benin and Nigeria in particular is more concrete with the commissioning of the Juxtaposed Control Post of SEME-KRAKE.

Indeed, the official ceremony of inauguration and commissioning of the Juxtaposed Control Post (PCJ) in Sèmè-Kraké, on the border between Benin and Nigeria took place on Tuesday, 23 October 2018, under the effective presence of the Beninese Head of State, His Excellency Patrice Guillaume Athanase TALON and his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari, current President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Sèmè-Kraké CCP, for which the EU has financed construction, is part of the regional transport facilitation programme adopted by the 26th ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government in Dakar in 2003.

The programme's objectives include poverty reduction, improving regional transport services, reducing transport and transaction costs, promoting inter-regional and intra-regional trade, facilitating the movement of people, goods and services, and promoting West African integration.

Located about 30 kilometres from Cotonou, Benin's economic capital, this huge infrastructure will have to contribute to facilitating border formalities between Benin and Nigeria in the context of the regional protocol on the free movement of persons and goods, which forms the basis for regional integration and the implementation of a genuine Customs Union.

From the summary of the speeches of the two Heads of State, it can be noted that the implementation of the Sèmè-Kraké CCP is a note of satisfaction and at the same time hope that will contribute to the reduction of the costs of trade and logistics between Benin and Nigeria.

It will, of course, promote increased trade, increased customs revenues, improved cross-border cooperation and security, and the sharing of information among border control agencies.

In the long term, the CCP will contribute to reducing the transit time of persons in goods and services, as well as to reducing transport and transaction costs, which will ensure successful regional integration and free movement between users of the ECOWAS area.

The ceremony ended with the symbolic cutting of the ribbon of inauguration by the two Heads of State assisted by the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the Commissioner for Infrastructure of the said Commission, Pathé Gueye, the Representative of the European Union (EU), as well as the political and administrative authorities of Benin and Nigeria.

DGDDI.COM