https://www.actualitix.com/carte-benin.html#routiere  

Lien List of the national road (Routes nationales) in Benin 

As the information indicated by the Ministry of transports officials, Benin National roads network represent about 16,000 km inventoried in the country.  

The Road is the main mode of transport inside the country. The transport department indicated that it could be about 10% to 11% increase per year of traffic on asphalted roads and about 6% to 7% on non-asphalted roads over the last 15 years (2003 -2018). 

About 11.25% of the primary roads in Benin are asphalted or paved. The paved stretch can be mostly found in the southern region (Zou, Littoral and Plateau) and the principal towns. The Secondary roads make up around 33% and consist of lateral and gravel roads. The roads network remained in poor condition despites some of them are under long plans of construction. There are different projects that the government intends to launch with the support of development partners. Benin’s geographical position makes it as a main corridor to other West African countries (including Niger and Burkina Faso). 

The General Directorate of Land Transport is a technical structure of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. In this capacity, she is responsible for the regulation of road and rail transport, the issuance and control of travel documents, transport authorizations and the coordination of road freight. 

Today, there is no doubt that the transportation sub-sector plays a significant strategic role in Benin national economy. It is then essential to follow its evolution, to analyse its performance in order to appreciate its efficiency and the quality of its service. 

The road projects contain a portfolio of 29 priorities of rehabilitations, Asphalts, estimated at 1.6 billion Euros (US $1.8 billion, FCFA 3.202 trillion). That includes some rehabilitations, modernizations and extensions of the national roads network for the period of 2016-2021, and Constructions of Hilaconji / Sanvéecondji Juxtaposed Control Stations for the period of 2016-2018, with a total cost of 19,946 million FCFA. Link  

During the rainy season from mid-September to mid-November, muddy roads often become impassable.  Transporters are faced to deploy accommodated lighter trucks with 4-wheels drive.  Full spare tires and other useful safety equipments are required. Most of the rural roads require other types of lighter vehicles (Moto tricycles and 2-wheels, are often used. However, the old bridges on the rivers are in places, the crossings of these rivers become almost impassable. Roads cut, or flooding is frequent, and the canoes are used to reach the villages along the rivers.  

On the primary roads, the toll gates fees are applied and vary progressively from 150 XOF to 500 XOF. 

Distance Matrix 

Distances from Capital City to Major Towns (km) 

Travel Time from Capital City to Major Towns (km) 

Road Security 

In general, Benin roads are in bad condition. The road security was poor in the past few years due to the road conditions and absence of proper regulations of road safety implementation. Therefore, thieves (Bandits) were operating on primary roads connecting the principal towns to the land borders.  

Recently, the government took an excellent initiative to improve the roads security and safety by deploying the mobile police to different levels. The vehicle conditions, speeds limits and inspections are not respected in the country.  Most of the drivers are driving without a minimum knowledge of road regulations, bad condition of vehicles no lights during the night and the overloading of trucks are all factors that impact the road security level in the country. In some regions, armed robberies might occur on certain roads. It is advisable not to travel during the night. 

Weighbridges and Axle Load Limits 

In Benin, there are Four (4) weighbridges at the Port Autonomous of Cotonou, installed at the trucks exit gates and the terminals for good exportations according to the standard norms of Verify Gross Mass (VGM). Despite this disposition in place, there are no real regulations on axle load limits in the Country. The remarks focused that the overloaded trucks accelerate the deterioration of the new roads constructed. 

Road Class and Surface Conditions