UAE and Benin: Abu Dhabi business roundtable aims to turn the new CEPA into projects and investment

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, said the UAE's global standing as a preferred business destination and its active investment community can serve as a platform to support Benin's logistics, manufacturing and energy sectors. He was speaking at a UAE-Benin business roundtable organised by the Ministry of Foreign Trade with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday 29 October 2026.

Al Zeyoudi described Benin as one of West Africa's fastest-growing and best-connected economies, with growth of 7.5% in 2025. He said non-oil trade between the two countries rose 63.5% in 2025 from the previous year to about US$2.15 billion, and urged both business communities to turn shared interests into investment projects and long-term partnerships. Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Deputy Director of African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also took part and pointed to opportunities for UAE investment in Benin in technology, renewable energy, logistics and agriculture.

For Benin, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, Minister of Tourism and Foreign Trade, in charge of Industry and Private Investment Promotion, welcomed the growing economic ties and invited UAE companies to explore opportunities in his country as a gateway to West African markets with a combined population of more than 400 million. A representative of the Abu Dhabi Chamber recalled its 2022 memorandum of understanding with the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and highlighted openings in food processing, light manufacturing, construction materials and technology.

The roundtable follows the exchange of the UAE-Benin Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in Abu Dhabi on 25 October, witnessed by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and the President of Benin. The agreement covers about 97% of current trade between the two countries and is expected to lift UAE exports to Benin by more than US$1 billion by 2033, and Benin's exports to the UAE by more than US$100 million over the same period, by cutting tariffs, simplifying procedures and opening both markets to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Al Majlis Analysis: The roundtable is the natural next step from signing the agreement to putting it to work, because comprehensive economic partnerships only deliver their numbers when they turn into deals and partnerships between companies. Benin matters because it gives the UAE another foothold in West Africa, a fast-growing market that lacks much of the logistics and industrial infrastructure in which UAE companies have deep experience. Non-oil trade growing by more than 63% in a single year, before the agreement has even entered into force, points to existing demand that can be built on. The move fits the steady expansion of the UAE's network of comprehensive economic partnership agreements, aimed at diversifying its trading partners and strengthening its role as a hub linking emerging markets to the world.