Benin hit by neighbouring Nigeria’s car import ban

AFP, COTONOU: Surveying his sprawling car dealership on the fringes of Benin’s commercial hub Cotonou, Kassem Hijazi alternates between chainsmoking Marlboro cigarettes and puffing on a hookah.
He and his colleagues don’t have much else to do. There hasn’t been a single customer since December, when neighbouring Nigeria banned car imports by land as part of a wave of protectionist policies that are strangling Benin’s economy.
“We spend our days smoking, it’s our life now,” Hijazi sighs, sitting in a gazebo beside his stock of thousands of cars steadily accumulating the dry winter dust.
This afternoon, Hijazi—who, like the vast majority of car dealers in Benin, is Lebanese—called in his Beninese accountant to help close up shop.
Debts are accumulating and the stress is becoming too much. “I lost in one year what I have earned in 16,” Ali Assi, another car dealer, told AFP.
Of the 2,500 Lebanese dealers in Cotonou, 1,600 have packed up and left in the last six months, shutting down businesses that employed dozens of drivers, cleaners and security staff.
“Unemployed people used to come here to find work,” said Vincent Gouton, who represents a group of car dealership managers in Cotonou.
The Benin car market began its free fall last year when neighbouring Nigeria entered its first recession since 1994.

Benin hit by neighbouring Nigerias car import ban

AFP, COTONOU: Surveying his sprawling car dealership on the fringes of Benins commercial hub Cotonou, Kassem Hijazi alternates between chainsmoking Marlboro cigarettes and puffing on a hookah. He and his colleagues dont have much else to do. There hasnt been a single customer since December, when neighbouring Nigeria banned car imports by land as part of a wave of protectionist policies that are strangling Benins economy. We spend our days smoking, its our life now, Hijazi sighs, sitting in a gazebo beside his stock of thousands of cars steadily accumulating the drywinter dust. This afternoon, Hijaziwho, like the vast majority of car dealers in Benin, is Lebanesecalled in his Beninese accountant to help close up shop. Debts are accumulating and the stress is becoming too much. I lost in one year what I have earned in 16, Ali Assi, another car dealer, told AFP. Of the 2,500 Lebanese dealers in Cotonou, 1,600 have packed up and left in the last six months, shutting down businesses that employed dozens of drivers, cleaners and security staff. Unemployed people used to come here to find work, said Vincent Gouton, who represents a group of car dealership managers in Cotonou. The Benin car market began its free fall last year when neighbouring Nigeria entered its first recession since 1994.