How China is turning historic African slave port into waterfront tourism destination

In Benin’s southern Atlantic coastal town of Ouidah, located about 40km (25 miles) west of the economic capital of Cotonou, China is turning a former slave trade hub into a busy tourist destination.

The historic port once saw nearly 2 million enslaved Africans marched along the 2km “Slave Route” from the auction plaza to the beach during the transatlantic slave trade.

On the shore, captives were passed through the “Gate of No Return”, with a monumental memorial arch now standing at the exact point where they boarded the ships.

The Beninese government has contracted Chinese state-owned firms to build an expansive La Marina waterfront complex located at what once was the main slave port. This is being done under an infrastructure agenda inherited by Benin’s newly sworn-in president, Romuald Wadagni.

The project aims to boost tourism by linking the modern seaside complex directly to the historic slave route and memorial sites in Ouidah.

Benin’s National Agency for Heritage Promotion and Tourism Development manages the project. Construction started under the government of former president Patrice Talon. President Wadagni, who took the oath of office on May 24, was the finance minister at the time.