First Niger Oil Bound for China Blocked in West Africa Border Row

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The West African nation of Benin has blocked China’s first shipment of crude oil from Niger amid an ongoing border dispute with Niger following a coup that has put a military junta in power and shaken relations with other African nations.

China’s first imports of crude oil from Niger’s military junta arrived in Benin in three vessels but were prevented by the authorities from docking at the port, oilprice.com reported.

“If you want to load your oil in our waters, you can’t view Benin as an enemy and at the same time expect your oil to cross our territory,” Benin’s President, Patrice Talon said in a statement, with the medium quoting Business Insider Africa.

“We’re open to working with Niger. They’re the ones that refused to allow trucks to cross,” he added.

The oil bound for China was part of a $400-million commodity-backed loan from China National Petroleum Corp, which Niger’s military junta agreed to at a 7 per cent interest rate and repayment in oil for a period of 12 months, as reported by Bloomberg.