The World Bank has offered Benin a loan of 50 million U.S. dollars to develop the country's tourism sector, and reduce its vulnerability and strong dependence on informal trade with Nigeria and the cotton sector, a source from the Bank announced Tuesday in Cotonou.
The source said the loan is aimed at funding the new Competitiveness and Cross-Border Tourism Project which is part of the major strategies for promoting growth and reducing poverty in Benin.
The loan is particularly in line with the World Bank's major objectives of ending poverty and stimulating shared prosperity. "By contributing to the development of cross-border tourism and private investments in Benin's major tourist attraction sites, the project will help over 1,000 local tourism operators to develop their economic opportunities and create jobs," the source added.
According to the same source, the project will be executed over a period of five years starting from 2016 to 2021, and it will be in line with Benin's 2013-2025 action plan on developing the country's tourism sector.
Official statistics show that tourism is Benin's second foreign exchange earner and third employer after agriculture and trade.
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