During his visit in March, Minister Bettel signed the roadmap for cooperation between Luxembourg and Benin, which provides for investments of €62 million for the 2022-2026 period. On the same occasion, Luxembourg’s embassy in Cotonou was officially inaugurated.
In terms of bilateral cooperation, Luxembourg Development Cooperation continued to fund two programmes through delegated cooperation agreements. This includes the construction and outfitting of agricultural technical high schools (€3 million, with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD)) and the programme entitled “Support for the management of the Mono delta biosphere reserve and the development of the Bouche du Roy marine protected area” (€3 million, with the Belgian development agency Enabel).
Bilateral cooperation with LuxDev continued through three projects:
- a tourism, hospitality and catering training school (2023-2026; €17 million), in partnership with the Luxembourg School of Hospitality and Tourism (EHTL) and the Lausanne School of Hospitality (EHL), the Swiss NGO Helvetas and the NGO EcoBénin;
- inclusive and innovative finance (2024-2027; €10 million), in partnership with the Luxembourg NGO Appui au développement autonome (ADA) and the German agency Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ);
- digital development (2024-2027; €8.5 million).
LuxDev is also set to implement a new project to support civil society organisations co-financed by Luxembourg (€4.5 million) and the European Union (€6.45 million). The project, which will focus on the protection of minorities, including LGBT individuals, is at the formulation stage, with the full project document expected in 2025.
A multilateral programme with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) covering health and sex education (€4.7 million) continued in 2024. In partnership with UNICEF, a programme was launched to uphold children’s rights by combating child labour, especially in the Couffo and Zou regions in central Benin (€2.3 million; 2024-2025). The project, designed to strengthen both institutional and community-based mechanisms in highly vulnerable villages and to raise awareness among children and adolescents, was developed in response to recommendations formulated by Luxembourg in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review of Benin in early 2023.
In 2024, Luxembourg contributed €1.1 million to emergency response projects and programmes in Benin. In addition, it supported the humanitarian operations of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Six Luxembourg NGDOs are active in Benin, three under framework agreements and two through co-financed projects.