BENIN
AT A GLANCE
Head of Government: President Thomas Boni Yayi
Next election: March 2011
Capital: Porto-Novo
Population: 9.1 million (UN, 2008)
Independence: 1960 from France
Human Development Index (HDI): 163rd of 177 countries (2007/08)
Gender Gap Index (GGI): 126th out of 130 countries (2008)
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: US$690 (World Bank, 2008)
Customs Reform at the Port of Cotonou
Status: Operational
Local Organization: Directorate-general of customs and indirect taxes (DGDDI)
As part of the CIDA-funded Deployment for Democratic Development (DDD), a Canadian expert will help Benin’s Port of Cotonou achieve its customs reform goals. The Port of Cotonou lies at the heart of Benin’s economy as all merchandise arrives and departs from there. Over the past few years, Benin’s Directorate-general of customs and indirect taxes (DGDDI) has been working to modernize its customs procedures and increase the capacity of its port, by facilitating imports and exports, ensuring transparency, reducing customs errors, and improving client services. The DGDDI requested a democratic governance expert to help them achieve these goals by setting up concrete action plans and a monitoring system, addressing gender balance, and ensuring the active involvement of all parties.
Supporting Administrative and Institutional Reform
Status: Operational
Local Organization: Ministry of Administrative and Institutional Reform
Canadian Expert: Jacques Pelletier
About 70% of Benin’s 7 million people work in the country’s agricultural sector. Yet, agriculture represents only about 40% of the country’s GDP. Industry represents about 14% and services 46%. The state is responsible for facilitating access to public services that help increase productivity within these different sectors. Faced with an increasing demand for these public services, the Government of Benin has made public administrative reform a priority in its economic recovery program. In response to a request from Benin’s Ministry of Administrative and Institutional Reform, Jacques Pelletier traveled to Benin to help develop an action plan and communications strategy, strengthen the team of senior technical professionals, and train recruiting personnel. This DDD initiative will help Benin solidify Canada’s 15-year investment in Benin’s administrative reform, which focuses on performance, accountability, quality services and results-based management.
Strengthening the Management of Public Finances
Status: Operational
Local Organization: Inspection Générale des Finances
Canadian Expert: Jacques Leduc
Since 1999, the Government of Benin has worked to increase the effectiveness of its public finance management in order to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction. Various reforms have been implemented, including results-based management of the budget. Through the CIDA-funded Deployment for Democratic Development, Canadian expert Jacques Leduc is helping to strengthen the oversight capacity of Benin’s General Inspectorate for Finance (Inspection Générale des Finances) and Financial Comptroller (Contrôle Financier), by supporting staff in audit engagements, particularly performance audits, implementing control reforms based on results, and transferring knowledge of the principles and methods of change management.