According to the Bank’s website, the objective of this project is to enhance urban mobility, transport safety, and access to inclusive and sustainable transport services along selected corridors in Grand Nokoue.

The Project, jointly financed by the World Bank's International Development Association, aims to address critical accessibility challenges caused by rapid population growth and economic dynamism in the Grand Nokoue region, the main urban area of Benin. The Project will provide climate-resilient, safe, reliable and less-polluting transport infrastructure and services. The Project will also support the development of the e-mobility sector. Finally, it will build institutional capacity to foster the sustainability of the transport sector in Grand Nokoue, in areas such as governance, planning, financing and safety.

The Project comprises five components:

1) Improvement of the transport sector governance in Grand Nokoue,
2) Professionalization of paratransit operators and strengthening of road and waterway safety oversight and management,
3) Improvement of transport conditions in Grand Nokoue, including a) Operationalization of multimodal public transport services, b) Provision of infrastructure supporting sustainable, multimodal transport.
4) Electrification of motorcycle taxi, including a) Supporting a pilot program, b) Deploying a large-scale fleet renewal program, and c) Developing a local e-mobility industry on electric motorcycles
5) Capacity building and project management.

The WB has categorized both environmental and social (E&S) risks of the Project as "High" and is rated as Category A per AIIB's Environment and Social Policy (ESP). This categorization was due to the high E&S risks attendant to infrastructure investments and operations of activities within a sensitive coastal lagoon ecosystem, which includes several protected areas, notably the 652,760-hectare declared Ramsar site 1018 (which encompasses Lower Valley of the Oueme, Porto-Novo Lagoon, and Lake Nokoue), as well as other transport investments that cause some resettlement impacts in urban areas.The

Project will address the following environmental risk factors in the E&S instruments: i) resource efficiency and pollution prevention and management including raw materials sourcing for civil works such as quarrying, water and energy use, GHG emissions, dust, noise, potential contamination of water sources from spills and run-off of petroleum products, infiltration into storage areas and improper disposal of fuels; (ii) land degradation, loss of vegetation, poor soil conditions, unstable slopes, soil erosion during land clearing, civil works and quarrying; (iii) potential impact on cultural heritage from civil works and excavations; (iv) the introduction of electric 2-wheeler (e2w) mototaxis equipped with batteries presents risks associated with battery storage, recycling and disposal; (v) during boat operation: oil spills, hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, as well as boats capsizing and sinking; (vi) threats to biodiversity due to habitat destruction, dredging, land reclamation, disturbance of sensitive ecosystems, erosion, sedimentation, alteration of water flow, mortality of aquatic species, including removal of wetlands around Lake Nokoue, (vii) road safety and traffic management to address road congestion, road mishaps, and involving vehicle drivers, passengers, pedestrians, roadside users, and local communities. Lake Nokoue, a nationally legislated protected wetland under the RAMSAR Convention, has been selected as the most suitable body of water for lake transport.

Social risks and impacts related to the Project include potential land acquisition and economic displacement of residents/street vendors living along roads, due to its activities related to construction/rehabilitation of roads located in densely populated urban areas. The RAP, for the ATC road sections, identifies 746 project-affected persons (PAPs) and 1,918 dependents. Among the affected individuals, 271 are property owners, 312 are tenants.

Total project cost: USD500 million
AIIB: USD200 million
WB: USD200 million
Private sector: USD100 million

CONTACT INFORMATION

PROJECT TEAM LEADER
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Jawad Bentabet - Investment Officer
jawad.bentabet@aiib.org
Franck Taillandier - Lead Transport Specialist
ftaillandier@worldbank.org

BORROWER
Republic of Benin
Serge Dossou Yovo - Directeur General du Financement et du Developpement Ministere de l’Economie et des Finances
sdossouyovo@finances.bj

IMPLEMENTING ENTITY
Road Infrastructure and Territorial Planning Company (SIRAT)
Francis Yai - Project Coordinator - Road Infrastructure and Territorial Planning Company
fyai@sirat.bj

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.aiib.org/en/contact/information-request/index.html

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AIIB

The AIIB has established the Accountability Mechanism for Project-Affected People (PPM). The PPM provides Òan opportunity for an independent and impartial review of submissions from Project-affected people who believe they have been or are likely to be adversely affected by AIIBÕs failure to implement the ESP in situations when their concerns cannot be addressed satisfactorily through Project level GRMs or AIIB Management processes.Ó Two or more project-affected people can file a complaint. Under the current AIIB policy, when the bank co-finances a project with another development bank, it may apply the other bank's standards. You can refer to the Project Summary Information document to find out which standards apply. You can learn more about the PPM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/who-we-are/project-affected-peoples-mechanism/how-we-assist-you/index.html

The complaint submission form can be accessed in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Chinese, English, Tagalog, Hindi, Nepali, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu. The submission form can be found at: https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/who-we-are/project-affected-peoples-mechanism/submission/index.html