The UAE and Benin signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Abu Dhabi. The exchange was attended by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Benin President Romuald Wadagni. The deal cuts tariffs, streamlines procedures and gives UAE businesses a new gateway into West Africa.
What was signed in Abu Dhabi
According to Khaleej Times, on 25 October 2026 Abu Dhabi hosted the ceremony to exchange the signed text of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Benin. The ceremony was attended by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Benin President Romuald Wadagni, who was on a visit to the UAE. The UAE side was represented by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, who commented on the deal publicly.
Substantively, the CEPA follows the UAE's template: reducing or removing customs duties, streamlining customs procedures, improving market access and protecting investment. This is the same baseline package the UAE used for the landmark CEPA with India, which was signed on 18 February 2022 and entered into force on 1 May 2022.
Trade and growth
The headline figure from the official statements: non-oil trade between the UAE and Benin reached $2.15 billion in 2025 — up 65% year on year and more than double the 2021 level. In the first half of 2026, trade grew by a further 37.4%.
“Our non-oil trade reached $2.15 billion in 2025, up 65 per cent YoY and more than double the level recorded in 2021,” Al Zeyoudi said. He added that the agreement “will strengthen supply chains and create new opportunities for both our business communities” and “will open a more ambitious phase of trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.”
Context matters here: this pace is uncommon for a bilateral pair outside the major trade blocs. In practice the CEPA was not signed from a standing start but on top of an already fast-growing trade corridor, which, once the deal enters into force, has a strong chance of adding another leg of growth.
Sectors that stand to benefit
The two governments explicitly listed six sectors where bilateral trade and investment are expected to accelerate:
- Gems and jewellery — one of the largest non-oil export lines from the UAE, now eligible for tariff relief under rules of origin.
- Food processing — a niche where the UAE has both production capacity in free zones and port-to-warehouse-to-truck logistics into Africa.
- Logistics — operators that have already built their platform in the UAE now get a predictable tariff frame for the West Africa lane.
- Renewable energy — projects by Masdar and adjacent players in solar and wind, where Benin and its neighbours are technically open but have been held back by customs barriers.
- Technology — software, fintech, digital platforms.
- Financial services — banking, insurance, investment platforms.
What this gives UAE businesses
For a UAE exporter, the CEPA with Benin delivers three useful things at once. First, tariff access: the gap between a 20% duty and 0% under rules of origin materially changes the economics of a shipment, especially for lower-margin goods. Second, predictable procedure: customs under the agreement is faster, and rules of origin are written into the CEPA text rather than left to inspector discretion. Third, regional access: Benin is a country of around 14 million people, but its wider role is bigger — part of the trade flows into Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Togo passes through it. The value of the agreement is therefore not only the domestic Benin market but also a tariff bridgehead into West Africa as a whole.
To make this work on the ground, UAE companies typically build a simple set-up in the partner country: a warehouse, a customs broker and a local distributor. Operationally this is the mirror image of the task we cover in our guide to setting up a logistics centre in the UAE — the same questions about entry formality, customs flow, local hiring and format of presence, only on the other side of the corridor.
What comes next
Signing is still a step before entry into force. The agreement has to be ratified by both countries. Across the UAE's CEPA programme, the gap between signing and ratification typically runs a few months — the India CEPA took about 2.5 months. Until the deal is in force, imports and exports continue under existing tariffs; once in force, exporters and importers can claim preferential rates under rules of origin.
This article is for information only. The full list of preferential tariffs, rules of origin and sectoral annexes will become available in the published CEPA text after official publication and ratification by the parties.
