The Beninese authorities have chosen Razel-Bec, a subsidiary of the French group Fayat, to carry out rainwater drainage works in two cities. These worksites are part of a climate change adaptation project financed by a loan from the French Development Agency (AFD).
Razel-Bec wins a new contract in Benin. The subsidiary of the French group Fayat will participate in the Programme d’Adaptation des Villes aux Changements Climatiques (PAVICC). Razel-Bec will carry out works in two cities. In the Beninese economic capital Cotonou, the company headed by Laurent Fayat will carry out road and sanitation works in Akpakpa and drainage works in Agla, two districts located on the Cotonou coast.
Specifically, Razel-Bec will build reinforced concrete side gutters, paved roads, collectors, scuppers and landscaping. The Razel-Bec contract also covers Bohicon. In this commune of more than 180,000 inhabitants, the work will involve the extension of 10.6 km of a storm water collector, the earthwork of approximately 500,000 m3 of cuttings/deposits, the construction of nine gutters and landscaping.
Reducing the frequency of flooding
The company, which employs more than 6,000 people, has 18 months to execute its contract. Through this work, the Beninese government, which initiated the PAVICC, aims to improve the living environment and the resilience of territories and populations by taking into account the risks associated with climate change in urban planning.
Read also- BENIN: IsDB lends $105.6 million for rainwater drainage in Cotonou
In addition to the cities of Cotonou and Bohicon, PAVICC is also being implemented in the city of Sèmè-Kpodji through the construction of a pedestrian bridge to open up the Tchonvi area and in Comé for the rehabilitation of plots in the historic core and development of peri-urban agriculture. According to the Beninese Ministry of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, the PAVICC will benefit 120,000 people.
The project is financed through a 58-million-euro loan from the French Development Agency (AFD). In the long term, the structures built under the PAVICC will help reduce the risk of flooding, improve the living environment of the population and ensure urban mobility in all seasons, particularly in cities at risk of flooding. This phenomenon has worsened over the last 10 years. The pivotal year for this West African country is undoubtedly 2010. Eleven years ago, floods killed 43 people and left nearly 100,000 homeless, 800 cases of cholera, several people suffering from malaria and thousands of hectares of agricultural land destroyed. The south of Benin is particularly affected by this phenomenon, which is worsening due to the flooding of the Niger River and its tributaries.
Jean Marie Takouleu
