Benin Telecommunications Sector Performance Review 2007

Benin
This PIPAP project enabled the government to be equipped with an Internet
site, www.gouv.bj through which the various ministries now have the
possibility of disseminating information on their services. Some ministries,
such as the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Finance, and
the ministry of Communication have independently created their own
Internet sites.
Except for some customs services, State services are not offered online.
The government services that have computer equipment exploit this
mostly for mail processing tasks, given the fact that this equipment is not
often connected to a network. It is urgent that each administration sets
up its own network, at least for its data exchange, voice and image.
These various networks should then be inter-connected to make it possible
for the State to offer its services on-line.
Assessment of the
telecommunications regulatory
environment
The mastery of the regulatory environment is a significant factor for the
development of the ICT sector and the determination of the level of
investment in every country. As a developing country where telecommunications
activities are only partially liberalised, Benin does not yet have
an autonomous regulatory body for the sector. The various markets in
the ICT sector are characterised by their poor organisation, due partly
to the loopholes observed at the level of the regulatory framework.
The objective of this section is to evaluate the telecommunications regulatory
environment (TRE) in Benin, building on the methodology developed
for this purpose by LIRNEasia and which is detailed in documents
relating to case studies on Sri Lanka, Chile and Guyana (Samarajiva and
Dokeniya, 2005; Coronel, 2006 and Braithwaite, 2006). It should be noted
that some minor adjustments were made to the structuring of the questionnaire
prepared for this purpose to make the methodology applicable
in Benin (see questionnaire in Appendix 2).
The 31 respondents who answered the questionnaires were selected taking
into account their degree of involvement in activities within the sector
(people in charge of IAP, managers of companies providing ICT services)
or their intervention within the regulatory framework (officers in
public structures, officials from the Ministry in charge of ICT). Two channels
were used in administering the questionnaires: face-to-face consultation
and e-mailing of the questionnaire.
The questions relate to the evaluation of five dimensions drawn from
the WTO reference paper, which assumes an autonomous regulator,
which are:
Requirements to enter the market;
Requirements and the quality of the interconnection of the various
networks and the quality of the facilities;
38 2007 Telecommunications Sector Performance Review