Xavier Bettel on a working visit to Benin

The constituent bilateral commission between Luxembourg and Benin was held in Cotonou. Co-chaired by Xavier Bettel and Romuald Wadagni, Benin's Minister of Economy and Finance in charge of Cooperation, the commission reviewed current cooperation projects and discussed the future strategic direction of the partnership. As the meeting brought together all the Beninese sectoral ministers involved in the implementation of current and planned programmes, it was an opportunity for Minister Bettel to have an in-depth exchange with his counterparts on Benin's cooperation priorities.

At the end of the bilateral commission, ministers Bettel and Wadagni signed two new agreements, including a multi-year roadmap for development cooperation to provide a conceptual framework for ongoing and planned commitments. The cooperation programmes with Benin, the majority of which have already been signed and include both bilateral and multilateral projects, cover the period 2022-2026 and will have a total indicative budget of €62 million. The second agreement signed concerns a new programme called "BeDIGITAL", which, with a budget of 8.5 million euros, is part of this total budget. The programme aims to strengthen the cybersecurity skills of the Beninese authorities, increase the use of digital tools among the population and promote women's entrepreneurship in the digital sector.

On the occasion of the signing of the two agreements, Minister Bettel underlined the excellent relations between Luxembourg and Benin: "I am very pleased that today we have been able to hold the very first bilateral commission between our two countries and to further consolidate, through the roadmap and the BeDIGITAL programme, the collaboration that Benin and Luxembourg Cooperation have been maintaining since 2022. The fact that many of our programmes are already underway is testament to the excellent cooperation of recent years."

In Cotonou, Minister Bettel also had an exchange of views with Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, Benin's Minister for Foreign Affairs, during which the ministers discussed bilateral relations between the Grand Duchy and Benin as well as current international political events.

At an official ceremony attended by Minister Adjadi Bakari, Minister Bettel also inaugurated the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Cotonou, a sign of the strengthening of relations between Luxembourg and Benin.

The programme of the visit also included visits to projects supported by Luxembourg. Xavier Bettel visited the construction site of the future tourism, hotel and catering school, a flagship development cooperation project with Benin, where he unveiled the school's official plaque.

With vocational training and tourism among the priority sectors for action, Minister Bettel then visited the Novignon Centre. Set up by the NGO ECO-BENIN, the centre is one of Luxembourg's cooperation partners in the promotion of ecotourism, which is aimed at sustainable tourism development, notably through the creation of green jobs and the protection of endangered animal species, including the olive ridley turtle.

Finally, Xavier Bettel visited the activities of the Luxembourg NGO SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde, which, with the support of the Luxembourg Development Cooperation, is working to improve children's access to basic social services and to promote child protection in Benin.

Press release by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade