Sidewapcom:

No be cotonou Babe oOo Na from Naija here me and her follow go, moreover, remove your eyes from there! Na description you need. Looooooooool

Lols

cutieme:
Lols

How possible is it for some one to travel without a passport ?

Grand-Popo is about 3 hours drive from Seme Border and 45 mins to Lome Togo. 2 hours from Cotonou.

fejeerow:
Where is grand popo located in benin? I see writings like ibis.

oluv:
Hi all, i plan on traveling to Cotonou with my husband for a few days after our wedding in September. Kindly give me names or information/ location of affordable / safe hotels that have beaches, with their prices. Thank you house.

Mid range budget, try Benin Atlantic beach Hotel, Fidjdrosse Plage, Route des peches. Double room start from Cfa 25,000. with fridge, airco, swimming pool, palsma tv, radio, night club, gym, bar and restaurant, karaoke, free wifi, car hire. Things to do at the week-end on the beach. Above all, it is a safe place to be with no whaala of nepa.

oluv:




Thanks Zhukafa, but i didnt see any beach hotels mentioned. Kindly give me names if you have, so i can look them up. many thanks

The Sheraton, Ibis, Maison Rouge, are the top end hotels and they are on boulevard de la Marina, this same road leads you past the airport to the lively Fidjrosse beach, on Route des Peches. ie Fishing Road. 1st is the Residence Celine Hotel +229 95 36 01 30/1. They do have appartments, with sea view, bar-restaurant nothing more. Down the beach road, 5 minutes drive is Benin Atlantic Beach Hotel with all mod coms.
Good luck.

olusholaonipede:


Good luck.

Wow

you have so much knowledge about that country, do you reside there or you are a frequent traveller ( due to business)?...just curious.

slimz10:

Wow

you have so much knowledge about that country, do you reside there or you are a frequent traveller ( due to business)?...just curious.

Cotonou is my family vacation home, it is peaceful. Everything works, from water, electricity to ordeliness. In terms of living, your money goes a long way!

ugsams:
OP, Well done for your effort in providing information here. Let me also add some information based on my most recent trip.

From my recent observations, there are a lot of changes at the border from what it used to be back then when I use to frequent Benin Republic. I came back from my short trip to Benin last week Wednesday.

I used to withdraw money at the Nigerian side of the border before crossing, I did same again. On crossing the border every where was so unorganized with new routes introduced. My bike customer of over three years requested to hold the money because the route can be unpredictable these days. When we crossed he gave me back the money immediately which I didn't count because I have given him much more in the past. I tried to do some exchange but I consider the rate high at N345 to 1000Francs so I decided to do the exchange at the Tokpa market. Something went wrong I lost some tens of thousands.

At the end of the day after my shopping, I ran out of cash and needed to make some withdrawal at the ATM using my GTB Naira Mastercard. I made the bitter discovery that all the machines around the Misebo market doesn't accept master card from Diamond bank to Ecobanks etc I had a chat with one of the security men at the bank he directed me to go to UBA that their ATM pays Mastercard, on getting there I was very disappointed because it rejected my card outrightly. I was directed from one bank to another until I get to the Societe Generale, their machine has the facility to pay mastercard but unfortunately it was under maintenance. I decided to wait hoping it will end in no time, I waited for over 30mins until the security men changed duty and advised me to come back tomorrow. I insisted and waited but after waiting for too long without any positive outcome I left in disappointment as the is almost empty.

MY ADVICE,
Open an Ecobank account here in Nigeria, get their Visa debit/ATM card, deposit all the money you intend to use in the account and withdraw little amount of money that can take you to Cotonou. By doing this you have reduced the risk of carrying cash across the border and all those shady bureau de change. You have also saved some money from exchange as the atm will be paying you at the official exchange rate of Naira to Francs.

SOME FIGURES FROM MY MOST RECENT TRIP

1)EXCHANGE RATE: N345 - 1,000 FRANCS(you can negotiate and get it less)

2)FROM IYANA IPAJA TO SEME BORDER: BUS N400, CAR N500 (These rates are applicable and available from this destination early in the morning, once it is afternoon you may have to go to Iyana Oba or mile 2 depending on where you stay)

3)CROSSING THE BORDER WITHOUT PASSPORT SHOULDN'T COST MORE THAN N1,000(it is actually cheaper N500 and less whether you are using bike or Vesper, but you need to be careful so you don't enter the wrong person that will extort you half way.

4)AT THE BENIN REPUBLIC SIDE OF THE BORDER, CARS CHARGE AN AVERAGE OF 1,000 FRANCS TO COTONOU(TOKPA) AND 5,000 FRANCS TO TOGO.(Remember 1,000 Francs is the equivalent of N345 Naira)

Can I change dollar to naira and deposit in ecobank in cotonou, as in I wanna change dollar to naira in cotonou and then deposit in ecobank.

drlawizle:


Can I change dollar to naira and deposit in ecobank in cotonou, as in I wanna change dollar to naira in cotonou and then deposit in ecobank.

No, you can change dollar to CFA.

olusholaonipede:


No, you can change dollar to CFA.

But after changing to CFA I should be able to change it to naira in Cotonou and deposit in Ecobank there nah...afterall it's a Pan-African bank.

drlawizle:


But after changing to CFA I should be able to change it to naira in Cotonou and deposit in Ecobank there nah...afterall it's a Pan-African bank.

You can not deposit Naira into any Banque in Benin Republique!

olusholaonipede:


You can not deposit Naira into any Banque in Benin Republique!

Hmm..okay can I deposit the CFA into the Ecobank account I opened in Nigeria and then come back to naija and be withdrawing in naira...is dat possible?

olusholaonipede:


The Sheraton, Ibis, Maison Rouge, are the top end hotels and they are on boulevard de la Marina, this same road leads you past the airport to the lively Fidjrosse beach, on Route des Peches. ie Fishing Road. 1st is the Residence Celine Hotel +229 95 36 01 30/1. They do have appartments, with sea view, bar-restaurant nothing more. Down the beach road, 5 minutes drive is Benin Atlantic Beach Hotel with all mod coms.
Good luck.

Thanks a lot @Olusholaonipede. Your information is very insightful.

Hi All,pls i would like to know where to look out for jobs there and what kind of jobs are readily available there and what the pay is like.I am planning to relocate to that place.Pls i would also like to know if there are any chances of surviving and atlest living a decent life in terms of wellbeing there cos i am an orphan and i don;t expect help from anywhere.I would really appreciate ur responses.

eoyinkansola:
Hi All,pls i would like to know where to look out for jobs there and what kind of jobs are readily available there and what the pay is like.I am planning to relocate to that place.Pls i would also like to know if there are any chances of surviving and atlest living a decent life in terms of wellbeing there cos i am an orphan and i don;t expect help from anywhere.I would really appreciate ur responses.

If you dont have capital to survive, i will advice you should hustle in Nigeria.

Thanks @sir Zhukhafa for the response.

drlawizle:


Can I change dollar to naira and deposit in ecobank in cotonou, as in I wanna change dollar to naira in cotonou and then deposit in ecobank.

Bro, I haven't done that before and besides I'm not updated on that route anymore, it has been a while.

Please what is the maximum amount of cfa that I can withdraw at a go from ATM In Benin republic.

As in maximum cfa per withdrawal

Thanks

Hello Zukafa!
Your all posts are so worthy and helpfully to All,I am Afzal, living for 16 years in Spain, I am convinced to migrate for business to Cotonou!
I am now tuning the mobile phone trading business in Spain! But I am very open for any kind off the trade ! When ever if there is no scams risk!
Could you suggest any of them from Europe to West Africa ! I belong from Pakistan ! Also if any good item import from My homeland to W. Africa ,
May I know your Whatsapp number with country code please
Your quick replay will very appreciated
Thanks

I intend relocating to Benin, close to Abomey Calavi university, how much would a self contain cost and how soon can I get one?

good day,

Am taking a trip to Songhai farm next week. I 've heard a lot of scary things that happens at the border. I will be connecting from idi iroko because I stay in Ibadan but if it will as rowdy as u 've posted here do u advise I quietly go to Lagos n join ABC? secondly I dnt want a dull moment at port novo, how can I achieve that. thirdly has anyone being to Songhai farm? please share your experience with me. then if i decide to drive down, what will I need. king regards

glowdot4:
good day,
Am taking a trip to Songhai farm next week. I 've heard a lot of scary things that happens at the border. I will be connecting from idi iroko because I stay in Ibadan but if it will as rowdy as u 've posted here do u advise I quietly go to Lagos n join ABC? secondly I dnt want a dull moment at port novo, how can I achieve that. thirdly has anyone being to Songhai farm? please share your experience with me. then if i decide to drive down, what will I need. king regards

I have been to Songhai farm I stayed there for three days the place is good and serene they have good food in their restaurant and their instructors can speak English fluently.
they have two more sites apart from the one in Porto novo if you are training for cattle, goat and sheep you will go there. I believe you have only one problem now and that is accommodation it is very expensive to stay on the farm so you will have to look for accommodation outside I am assuming you are going there for long term training

animal production in their Porto novo branch they have the following animals chicken duck turkey grasscutter quails catfish tilapia snail pigeon pigs geese Guinea fowl

Pls what is the name of the border town at idi iroko. is it also called seme border? I thought seme border is the one at badagry. songhai driver is suppose to pick me at seme border. so I dnt knw if both boarders are called seme.

seme border is in badagry.when I went the driver picked me up in conoil filling station in badagry

glowdot4:
Pls what is the name of the border town at idi iroko. is it also called seme border? I thought seme border is the one at badagry. songhai driver is suppose to pick me at seme border. so I dnt knw if both boarders are called seme.

seme border is in badagry.when I went the driver picked me up in conoil filling station in badagry