Cotonou City Map Poster

About Cotonou

The city is home to a large number of markets and manufacturing plants, including textiles, clothing, food processing and tourism.Cotonou was originally developed as a port for the slave trade. In 1852 it replaced Ouidah as the main Atlantic port for export of slaves from Dahomey (now Benin). The city continued in this role until after slavery had been abolished in the region. The Cotonou Agreement or Abidjan-Lagos Accord was an agreement signed on 4 April 1999 by representatives of Nigeria's National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and Togo's Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), which brought about peace between them after years of conflict over their border dispute that started with independence from France in 1960.[1] It also ended hostilities between these two countries' armed forces along their common border during 1998–1999.