By: John S. Morlu II, CPA
In a continent where “environmental awareness” often translates into organizing a press-conference clean-up once a year — with matching t-shirts, hashtags, and plastic water bottles left behind afterward — Benin quietly did something different: it built a system.
Not a photoshoot.
Not a campaign.
A system.
Today, visitors walk through Cotonou — the country’s economic capital — and pause. They look at the spotless streets, the cleared drainage systems, the absence of random trash heaps, and the quiet efficiency of uniformed waste workers, and they ask the same question:
“How did this happen in West Africa — and why does it feel so intentional?”
The answer: professional urban sanitation as a governance decision, anchored by a state-backed institution and delivered through high-performance operators.
The Shift: From Informal Dumping to Institutionalized Cleanliness
Under President Patrice Talon’s flagship development agenda — the Programme d’Actions du Gouvernement (PAG) — urban cleanliness was reframed as a matter of public dignity, health, tourism potential, and investor perception.
Instead of pleading for citizens to “be clean,” the government created a national waste management structure:
✅ SGDS (Société de Gestion des Déchets et de la Salubrité) — a state-owned enterprise responsible for overseeing waste collection, sanitation, and cleanliness across urban areas. The entity was created in 2018 to implement modern waste management in the Grand Nokoué conurbation (Cotonou, Abomey-Calavi, Porto-Novo, Ouidah, Sèmè-Podji).
✅ It then partnered with professional operators through zonal contracts and performance targets, and equipped the system with collection fleets (e.g., BOM and Ampliroll trucks) and transfer logistics to engineered landfills (CET) at Ouèssè and Takon.
✅ The task: collect household waste on schedule, maintain streets, clear drains, eliminate illegal dumps, and manage disposal properly — as an everyday service, not an event.
Context shift (before → after):
- Before the reform, Cotonou produced ~230,000 tonnes of waste yearly, yet only ~10% reached the engineered landfill; most waste stayed in neighborhoods.
- Today, the Grand Nokoué region generates ~607,000 tonnes/year (2023 estimate), and the collection rate is about 70% (EIB 2024 note) — a dramatic operational leap in just a few years.
Garbage Became a Supply Chain, Not a Crisis
What changed? Everything.
1. Household collection is structured.
A modern pre-collection/collection chain moves waste from households and regrouping points through transfer stations to the CETs, under SGDS oversight.
2. Street cleaning is daily, not ceremonial.
SGDS’ salubrité program covers sweeping, de-sanding, de-weeding, and drain cleaning as a routine service.
3. Illegal dumps are being eliminated at scale.
10 contracted firms destroyed 70+ “dépotoirs sauvages”, removing >85,000 tonnes and hauling them to Ouèssè/Takon CETs — a visible, measurable cleanup.
4. Real equipment, real volumes.
The government financed fleets (e.g., 30 BOMs, 50 Amplirolls, 12 trailers plus hundreds of containers) to professionalize logistics.
Jobs — thousands of them.
- 2019–2021: 4,000 jobs created as the modern system rolled out to ~385,000 households in Grand Nokoué (official SDG Bond Impact Report).
- End-2023: 6,262 direct decent jobs tied to solid waste management in major cities (official 2024 SDG Eurobond Allocation & Impact Report).
- Planned scale: SGDS projects ~10,000 direct + indirect jobs at term, with a CFAF 57 billion budget over 7 years and a 90% collection target.
Beyond trash: sanitation value chain upgrades.
A fecal sludge treatment plant at Sèmè-Kpodji came online in May 2023, benefiting >1 million people; the government entrusted SGDS with asset management to ensure performance oversight of the private operator.
The Result: A City That Feels Managed — Not Left to Chance
Visitors are now stunned to find that parts of Cotonou are cleaner than many so-called “modern” cities. Roads are paved and lined with bins. Market areas are regularly cleared. Public perception is shifting from “trash is inevitable” to “trash is unacceptable.”
Scale and throughput back that perception:
- Regional waste arisings: ~607,000 t/yr (2023).
- Current collection rate: ~70% (EIB 2024).
- Illegal dump clearance: >85,000 t removed from 70+ hotspots.
- Households served: ~385,000 during the first rollout phase.
- Jobs created: 4,000 (2019–2021) → 6,262 (end-2023) → ~10,000 targeted.
And because cleanliness is now part of national brand positioning, citizens are aligning with the system. You don’t dump trash casually when pickup is regular, fines are real, and your neighbors now expect better.
The Silent Victory: Cleanliness as Competence Signaling
Benin did not call a global summit on sanitation.
It did not request a development loan to “raise awareness about cleanliness.”
It did not form a 45-person task force with a 200-page document that no one would execute.
It hired professionals, backed them with policy, financed fleets and facilities, and made cleanliness a KPI, not a dream — including transfer logistics to CETs, fleet acquisition, and hotspot eradication.
In an African landscape where many cities are losing the battle against urban sprawl, Benin has positioned itself as a case study in pragmatic governance. It’s not perfect — collection rates still have room to rise from ~70% toward the 90% target — but the direction is unmistakably deliberate.
Why It Matters: Clean Cities Attract Investors, Tourists, Talent — and Trust
Cotonou’s cleanliness is not simply aesthetic — it is strategic.
✅ A clean environment boosts tourism confidence.
✅ It signals seriousness to investors.
✅ It improves public health outcomes (e.g., fecal sludge treatment now serving >1 million).
✅ It creates formal jobs in a structured industry.
✅ It builds citizen morale — people behave better in systems that look like they deserved effort.
In a continent often drowning in potential but clogged by mismanagement, Benin is quietly reminding Africa of a hard truth: development is not a speech. It is logistics.
Final Thought: Cleanliness Is Now Part of Benin’s National Identity
Benin may not be the loudest country in Africa. It may not dominate global headlines. But in the streets of Cotonou, cleanliness is now a visible symbol of its new contract with efficiency and dignity.
While some countries hold week-long conferences on climate action and yet drown in uncollected trash, Benin simply empowered SGDS, funded the system, contracted operators, tracked results, and let execution do the speaking.
It turns out, when governance meets system design, even garbage becomes a tool of national transformation.
And maybe, just maybe, the rest of Africa will realize:
You cannot build modern nations on uncollected trash.
Benin Cleanliness Dashboard
Urban Sanitation Reform — Performance Snapshot (Grand Nokoué Region)
(Cotonou, Porto-Novo, Abomey-Calavi, Ouidah, Sèmè-Podji)
| Metric | Before Reform | Current Status | Source |
| Annual Waste Generated | ~230,000 tonnes (Cotonou only) | ~607,000–671,000 tonnes/year (Grand Nokoué, 2023 est.) | Gov. of Benin, COPIP/EIB 2024 |
| Collection Rate | ~10% (Cotonou, pre-reform) | ~70% (2023–2024) | Gov. data, EIB 2024 |
| Target Collection Rate | No defined target | 90% | SGDS |
| Households Covered | Largely informal coverage | ~385,000 households serviced during rollout (2019–2021) | SDG Bond Report |
| Informal Dumpsites | High, uncontrolled | >70 illegal dumps destroyed | SGDS |
| Waste Removed from Dumps | Dump waste not systematically collected | >85,000 tonnes extracted & transferred to CETs | SGDS |
| Fleet Size | Patchy informal fleet | 30+ BOM trucks, 50+ Amplirolls, 12+ trailers + containers | SGDS Logistics Data |
| Landfills (CETs) | None compliant | CET Ouèssè & CET Takon operational under SGDS | SGDS |
| Formal Jobs Created | Few, informal scavenging | 4,000 jobs by 2021 → 6,262 jobs by end-2023 | SDG Bond Reports |
| Projected Jobs | No framework | ~10,000 direct + indirect | SGDS |
| Fecal Sludge Treatment | Limited informal disposal | Sèmè-Kpodji plant operational, >1M people served | World Bank 2023 |
| Urban Aesthetic Impact | Frequent visible trash | City visibly clean, drains cleared, markets serviced regularly | Observational + Gov. Reports |
🛠️ Key Institutional Driver
| Pillar | Description |
| Lead Agency | Société de Gestion des Déchets et de la Salubrité (SGDS) |
| Ownership | Government of Benin |
| Mandate | Urban cleaning, solid waste collection, drainage maintenance, landfill management |
| Contractors | Private operators (e.g., Clean Bénin, Africa Waste, zonal sanitation firms) |
| Funding Model | State budget + SDG bonds + PPP-style service contracts |
Why This Matters (Strategic Impact)
| Vector | Impact |
| Public Health | Reduced exposure to waste & contamination; safer environment |
| Urban Branding | Cleanliness as national image under governance reform |
| Investment Climate | Clean, structured cities increase investor trust |
| Tourism Competitiveness | Cotonou now perceived as safer, neater, more attractive |
| Job Creation | Thousands of new structured sanitation careers |
| Behavior Shift | Citizens align with system expectations when services are reliable |
Transformation Summary in One Line:
Benin turned garbage into governance — and sanitation into a national brand of discipline, dignity, and development.
Sources (key, recent, and load-bearing)
- SGDS (official site): mission, scope, targets, jobs, budget.
- SGDS — Activities (Salubrité): 70+ illegal dumps destroyed; >85,000 tonnes removed.
- SGDS — Waste logistics: CETs at Ouèssè and Takon, fleet info.
- Gov. of Benin article: pre-reform collection in Cotonou ~10% of 230,000 t/yr.
- EIB environmental/social note (2024): Grand Nokoué ~671,000 t/yr, ~70% collection rate.
- COPIP (2024): Grand Nokoué ~607,000 t/yr in 2023 (population ~2.8 M; Cotonou & Porto-Novo included).
- Benin SDG Bond Impact Reports:
- 2019–2021: 385,000 households covered; 4,000 jobs.
- End-2023: 6,262 direct decent jobs across major cities.
- World Bank (2023): Sèmè-Kpodji fecal sludge plant operational, >1 million beneficiaries; SGDS manages assets.
📖 Coming Up Next: How Benin Engineered Cleanliness: When a Nation Chose Systems Over Speeches
Author: John S. Morlu II, CPA is the CEO and Chief Strategist of JS Morlu, leads a globally recognized public accounting and management consultancy firm. Under his visionary leadership, JS Morlu has become a pioneer in developing cutting-edge technologies across B2B, B2C, P2P, and B2G verticals. The firm’s groundbreaking innovations include AI-powered reconciliation software (ReckSoft.com) and advanced cloud accounting solutions (FinovatePro.com), setting new industry standards for efficiency, accuracy, and technological excellence.