Chinese Government provides CFAF 3 billion grant for Agricultural Demonstration Center Construction Project

Project narrative

In 2009, China’s Ministry of Commerce provided a grant worth CFAF 3 billion to the Government of Benin for the Agricultural Demonstration Center Construction Project . This project involved the construction of an agricultural demonstration center in the town of Sèmè-Kpodji . It was one of 14 agricultural demonstration centers being funded by the Chinese Government in Africa under the framework of the Eight Aid Africa Initiatives at the Beijing Summit of the 2006 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation China Agricultural Development Group Corporation and China Railway Fifth Bureau (Group) Co., Ltd. were responsible for implementation . A groundbreaking ceremony was held on 31 March, 2009 . Construction was completed in 2009. Then, a formal inauguration ceremony took place on 20 January, 2010 . In October 2010, the China National Agricultural Development Group Co., Ltd. (CNADC) began dispatching agricultural experts to the center . These staff helped run the 54-ha. cultivation and teaching area at the center. As of 29 October, 2013, 1,331 people had been trained at the center. The operation of the center was divided into two stages under a Build-Operate-Transfer model. The first phase was a technical cooperation period where the Chinese Government provided funding, and the second phase was an independent operation period where the center was handed over to be run solely by Benin’s Ministry of Agriculture . The agreement for the second phase was signed on 5 November, 2014 ), but the second phase of Benin ownership did not begin until 4 March, 2015. Therefore, the center was operated with Chinese Government funding for approximately 6 years.