The Executive Secretary of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) was granted an audience by the Beninese Minister of Energy, Water and Mines, NBA’s Supervising Minister: Presentation of the outcome of the mission to accelerate the implementation of the PIDACC/NB project, February 16-20, 2026, in Benin.
On the morning of February 19, 2026, His Excellency, Kocou Armand HOUANYE, Executive Secretary of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), was granted an audience by Mr. José TONATO, Minister of Energy, Water and Mines, and the NBA Supervising Minister in the Republic of Benin.
A meeting full of promise
Following a series of meetings held in Benin from February 16 to 20, 2025, with key stakeholders and partners as part of the support and advocacy mission aimed at expediting the implementation of the Programme for the Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin (PIDACC/NB) within the Beninese portion of the Basin, the Executive Secretary of the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) was hosted by the NBA Supervising Minister.
The crux of the high-level talks
During the audience, the Executive Secretary conveyed his profound appreciation and highest consideration to His Excellency Mr. Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon, President of the Republic of Benin. He further commended the NBA Supervising Minister for the decisive strategic and political patronage which continues to facilitate NBA’s mandate in both Benin and across the entire Niger Basin. He then commended the exceptional leadership of the NBA Supervising Minister for the significant progress recently achieved in the implementation of the PIDACC/NB-Benin project.
The NBA Executive Secretary and the Supervising Minister focused their deliberations on the measures required to ensure optimal performance of the PIDACC/NB-Benin project by the June 2026 milestone. Particular emphasis was placed on leveraging existing emergency procedures in Benin, to enable the commencement of construction and rehabilitation works for PIDACC/NB-Benin multi-purpose water infrastructure projects as quickly as possible, targeting March 31, 2026 deadline.
NBA Supervising Minister’s commitments and directives for the successful implementation of the PIDACC/BN-Benin
In response to the advocacy presented by the NBA Executive Secretary, the Supervising Minister expressed his strong support and reiterated his commitment to working with his colleagues towards: (i) the commencement of the operational phase of the multi-purpose water infrastructure works no later than March 31, 2026; (ii) the significant improvement of the performance of PIDACC/NB-Benin by the end of June 2026, and (iii) the achievement of the expected results of the implementation of Phase 1 of PIDACC/NB for Benin by the new closing date of the Programme, 31 December 2027. To this end, the Authority has mandated his staff to submit an emergency roadmap. The short term implementation of this roadmap is designed to substantially bolster the performance of PIDACC/NB-Benin. The NBA Supervising Minister also directed his staff to convene members of the Programme’s Steering Committee and Experts from the National Coordinating Unit of the PIDACC/NB-Benin to a meeting on the implementation of the emergency roadmap by the end of February 2026.
The audience was held in the presence of the Minister’s staff, notably: (i) the Minister’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Agnidé Emmanuel LAWIN; (ii) the Secretary General of the Ministry, Mr. Kanon Basile ADJO; (iii) the Technical Advisor for Water, Mr. Adolphe M. DEGNIDE ; (iv) the Director General of Water, Coordinator of the National Focal Structure (NFS), PIDACC/NB-Benin Strategic Coordinator, Mr. Saïd Kolawolé HOUNKPONOU, and (v) the PIDACC/NB National Coordinator, Mr. Adamou WOROU WARA B.
For this occasion, the NBA Executive Secretary was accompanied by: (i) Mr. Ibro ADAMOU, Ag. Technical Director of the Executive Secretariat, and (ii) Mr. Seyni SEYDOU, PIDACC/NB Regional Coordinator.
