Just a few kilometres from Cotonou, the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone is driving the country’s industrial transformation. At the heart of this initiative, the Afrikan Ceramics Solutions factory produces tiles under the ELANO brand, with the aim of reducing imports and establishing Benin’s presence in the regional market.
Since 2016, Benin has embarked on a deep economic transformation, structured around a strategy based on production, processing and export. This dynamic is being implemented through the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ), which has become the main driver of this industrial strategy. The site covers 1,640 hectares, including 400 hectares already developed, and brings together an estimated investment volume of 1.4 billion US dollars. To date, the zone hosts 14 operational industrial units and has created more than 15,000 direct jobs, with projections reaching 300,000 jobs by 2030.
“In 2016, Benin saw the election of President Patrice Talon, who believed that our economy needed a radical and structural change. It is in this pursuit of structural transformation that the President envisioned making our economy driven by a number of key sectors. And it is based on this desire to transform our economy that a partner was identified, notably the RISE Group, which established, together with the Government of the Republic of Benin, SIPI-Benin, the Investment and Industrial Promotion Company of Benin, which is responsible for the development, promotion and operation of the Glo Special Economic Zone. This is a zone covering 1,640 hectares, created in February 2020. We began the first infrastructure works in July 2021.”
Létondji Beheton, Chief Executive Officer of SIPI-BENIN S.A – Benin
In this momentum, industrial diversification is accelerating with the emergence of new sectors, including ceramics as a key example. The establishment of Afrikan Ceramics Solutions illustrates this shift. The plant has a production capacity of 100,000 m² of tiles per day, or nearly 3 to 3.5 million m² per year, using local resources such as kaolin, clay and granite. This upscaling is reshaping the value chain by replacing the export of raw materials with their local transformation into finished products intended for national and regional markets.
“We also have mineral resources that we process within this zone, particularly clay and kaolin. We have a unit established in the zone that produces tiles at a rate of about 3,500,000 square metres of tiles per year. This is a first in Benin.”
Létondji Beheton, Chief Executive Officer of SIPI-BENIN S.A – Benin
This industrialisation is reshaping career paths. Production units are becoming spaces of learning and integration for a local workforce that is gradually upgrading its skills through exposure to modern and structured industrial processes.
“I work here at ACS as a maintenance electrician. I work in the packaging department. In the packaging area, we ensure the packaging of tiles, and I also work as a supervisor in our department. I supervise work among colleagues, and in the morning, I am responsible for starting the machines.”
MAHOUNA ROMAINE DJOTCHOU, Electrician – Benin
The unit employs nearly 500 people across production, maintenance and logistics. It is part of the GDIZ ecosystem, which brings together several industries (textile, agro-industry, cotton processing) and aims to create thousands of jobs in the long term.
The approach seeks to develop local production capable of capturing more value and reducing a long-standing dependence on imports in the construction materials sector.
The GDIZ continues to expand its industrial capacity with a target of 300,000 direct jobs, supported by new investments and the expansion of productive sectors, particularly ceramics. However, achieving this will also require addressing challenges related to infrastructure, energy, logistics and technical training.
