The Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Exports (APiEx), says Nigerian manufacturers have begun making enquiries about investing in Benin Republic, barely a month after the country launched a campaign in Nigeria offering tax breaks and simple company set-up procedures.
Eric Akoute, the chief executive officer of APiEx told BusinessDay in an exclusive interview that discussions with potential investors have started, marking an early sign of traction following efforts to decorate Benin as a lower-cost manufacturing base for companies looking to serve the Nigerian market.
“We now have discussions unlike before,” Akoute said. “Manufacturers are interested, and they are contacting us to understand what we are offering. We have a phone call point that responds to people, and every day we get emails,” he added.
The interest follows a series of investment pitches to Nigerian businesses at the inaugural Benin-Nigeria Business Forum in Lagos where the country dangled exemptions from Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Value Added Tax (VAT) and customs duties for up to 17 years on all new investments under its ‘Investment Code’.
It also promised lower labour costs and faster cargo clearance times as advantages for companies willing to set up operations in Benin.
At the heart of the pitch is an industrial zone located roughly nine kilometres from the Nigerian border, which officials say could allow manufacturers to produce goods close to their main market while avoiding some of the bottlenecks associated with operating in Nigeria.
Akoute reported that Yahaya Idris, the president of the Badagry Chamber of Commerce, along with his envoy, paid a visit to the country last week to tour its zones and explore areas of cooperation, including the possibility of setting up a “cross-border business facilitation centre” to support companies operating along the frontier.
The early engagement is being supported by ongoing cooperation talks with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), which signed a memorandum of understanding with its Beninese counterpart in January aimed at strengthening investment ties between the two countries.
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Among the proposals under consideration, Akoute said, are plans to establish a dedicated investment focal point in Abuja to provide information about opportunities in Benin.
“We can put our representative inside NIPC or inside the Chamber of Commerce in Abuja, for example. They will be there every day to inform people and to make them use the port of Cotonou, for example, because people don’t know,” he said.
Discussions also panned to plans for new transport connections between the two countries, including the possibility of direct flights with indigenous airlines.
“Before I come here to Lagos, I had to make a transit from Lome, whereas I can take a direct flight for less than one hour from Cotonou to here,” Akoute said. “I have in my action plan to see how I can work with NIPC to implement a direct flight with Air Peace or with Ibom Air.”
So far, he said early discussions have begun, largely via phone calls. “Last week, we had the first phone call that people have been putting in place, either from the Nigeria side and Benin side. And now every two weeks, we have a phone call that we discuss to see concrete action, how we can put action, how we can resolve the problem.”
For Benin, Nigeria represents a natural target for investment promotion given its size and proximity. Officials say the country’s strategy is built on the idea that manufacturers can locate production close to Nigeria while benefiting from a business environment designed to reduce costs and administrative delays.
“We have a strategy to work with Nigeria because we cannot be close to Nigeria and not be deeply connected,” Akoute said.
Although still at an early stage, APIEx says the growing number of enquiries suggests that Nigerian manufacturers are beginning to consider Benin as a potential base for serving the region’s largest economy.
“It is a progressive process,” the chief executive said. “First, you hear. Second, you try to understand. Third, then you come to see. And fourth, you make your project.”
