“At the beginning of January, PAI signs the agreement in Cotonou. “Our main task will be to modernise the port authority in organisational terms, renovate the obsolescent facilities and prepare for and guide the expansion of the port,” declared Kristof Waterschoot, managing director of PAI. In the short term PAI will take over some key functions within the port authority, in order to study the processes from the inside.
Development of Cotonou
PAI now seeks to recruit eight professionals who will carry out the task on the ground. “For example we’re looking for a CEO and a Chief Financial Officer, but we have the explicit aim under the terms of our remit to organise management training courses for local managers, to prepare them for a gradual transfer of these key functions,” explained Waterschoot. For this purpose PAI will call upon APEC, among others, to fulfill training requirements.