Niger has loaded its first crude oil shipment at Benin’s Seme port, according to sources and shipping data, after the completion of the $5 billion Niger-Benin pipeline project.

This development puts the landlocked African country into the league of oil-exporting African nations barely a year after a military coup

The listed destination for this shipment is a single-point mooring linked to the West African Oil Pipeline (Niger & Benin) Company (WAPCO), a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp, which built the Niger-Benin pipeline.