Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CHAPTER FIVE: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE__________________________________________________________________________Box 5.3: Benin’s famous women traders, the ‘Mamas Benz’From humble beginnings, these women are now well-off and have become big-timeentrepreneurs. Their turnover runs into hundreds of millions of CFA franc for those in theformal sector, and tens of millions of CFA franc for their less well-off counterparts in theinformal sector. Most of these women mastered their trade by chance on the job,understudying their mothers and sisters or simply by having caught the „trading virus‟alongside their spouses who are traders or importers. Others may have started because theycould not find anything better after their secondary or high school education. Many of themhold baccalauréat or even postgraduate diplomas in education. These are the new crop of thebusinesswomen.They started slowly with very little capital – for some, less than 25,000 CFA franc. Some evenmortgaged their accommodation permits. Others bought on credit from their suppliers andsold the items at a profit. Gradually, they built their own little empires and managed to puttogether the capital to modernise their businesses. Still others sought the services of localsavings and credit banks that provide credit to small entrepreneurs ignored by the institutionalfinancial sector.The activities carried out by these women are varied. Some are retailers who sell diverseitems. Others have specialised in the sale of all kinds of alcoholic or nonalcoholic drinks (fromwine to champagne, from whisky to canned beer, and other similar products). Many are intotextiles or leatherwear, while others sell food items like rice. They resell what they buy fromwholesalers in Cotonou, but they also go as far as Lome and Abidjan, and even off theAfrican continent to places like Paris. They are also familiar with the Middle East and Asiaroutes. The goods are purchased and shipped in large containers to be sold to wholesalers orretailers in Cotonou and Lome.Many of them refuse to deal with the banks because of problems withdrawing money. Theyprefer to keep their money at home so as to always have ready cash to be used wheneverneeded.Today, these businesswomen have graduated from the informal to the formal sector. Thosewho still remain in the informal sector are prevented by tax and customs problems frommoving into the formal sector. For most of these women, the major handicap, though, isilliteracy and a lack of training.573. The government of Benin and the country‟s donors should, therefore, paygreater attention to the informal sector in analysing Benin‟s developmentstrategies. Among actions that could encourage this sector to better contributeto tax revenues, the government could consider substantially reducing the taxburden that weighs heavily on enterprises, starting with the BIC. However, astrategy based essentially on taxing the informal sector will only have amarginal impact, and the results the formal sector enterprises expect may notbe attained. To ensure sustainability and perpetuation of economic activity, itis important to put in place a global strategy and a gradual approach tobroaden the tax base, rather than vainly seeking to propose taxation of theinformal sector and to keep the players there.200
CHAPTER FIVE: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE__________________________________________________________________________Box 5.4: The Jeune Chambre Internationale Soleil BéninThis young dynamic entity won the Top Young Chamber award at the Congress of YoungChambers (2001) for its Enterprising Youth School Project.Objectives of the projectTo develop the individual and creative capacities of artisans and to train them in thetechniques of design and development of income-generating projects.To enable participants to acquire the techniques to ensure efficient management of theirproduction units.To promote leadership aptitudes in artisans and assist them to professionalise theiractivities.To assist artisans to create a mutual association.Partners in the project are the Jeune Chambre Internationale Soleil Bénin, the Hanns SeidelFoundation and the Fédération Nationale des Artisans du Bénin (FENAB). To ensureadequate follow-up of the participants, each class will comprise 25 artisans duly selected bythe competent structures of FENAB in such a manner as to ensure that all trades are validlyrepresented.A seminar will be held in the country, and the period of training will be five days, with anaverage of 6-8 hours of work per day. The teaching approach will focus on the activeparticipation of the participants in an interactive process involving group work, role-playingand creativity exercises.Topics discussedBookkeeping in the enterprise.Financial management of a cottage-type enterprise.Micro or small enterprise and the law.Management of apprentices and workers.Management of production in a cottage-type enterprise.Management of materials and equipment.Commercial activities.Marketing activities.Mental programming.Information systems and development of the cottage-type enterprise.The project will be implemented annually and the total budget per training seminar is1,694,175 CFA franc.574. Foreign enterprise. With the exception of a peak in 1991, the flow of directforeign investment (DFI) into Benin remains relatively low. The CSARindicates a GDP rate of 1.46% between 1994 and 2003, as against 1.6% for201
Page 5:
Finally, the APR Panel would like t
Page 9 and 10:
of democracy, tolerance and fair pl
Page 11 and 12:
COUNTRY FACT SHEETLocation:West Afr
Page 13 and 14:
SOME ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL INDICAT
Page 15 and 16:
Prospects for economic growth in me
Page 17 and 18:
CSARCSRDCREDEPOLIPODFIDGIDDIVIDNMPE
Page 19 and 20:
SONAPRASONEBSPTSTASTAGSTARSYSCOASYS
Page 21 and 22:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY__________________
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: THE APRM
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITI
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
CHAPTER FOUR: ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE A
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171: CHAPTER FOUR: ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE A
Page 202 and 203: CHAPTER FIVE: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE_
Page 264 and 265: CHAPTER SIX: SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPM
Page 270 and 271:
CHAPTER SIX: SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPM
Page 272 and 273:
Page 274 and 275:
Page 276 and 277:
Page 278 and 279:
Page 280 and 281:
Page 282 and 283:
Page 284 and 285:
Page 286 and 287:
Page 288 and 289:
Page 290 and 291:
Page 292 and 293:
Page 294 and 295:
Page 296 and 297:
Page 298 and 299:
Page 300 and 301:
Page 302 and 303:
Page 304 and 305:
Page 306 and 307:
Page 308 and 309:
CHAPTER SEVEN: CROSSCUTTING ISSUES_
Page 310 and 311:
Page 312 and 313:
Page 314 and 315:
Page 316 and 317:
Page 318 and 319:
Page 320 and 321:
Page 322 and 323:
Page 324 and 325:
Page 326 and 327:
Page 328 and 329:
CHAPTER EIGHT: GENERAL CONCLUSIONS:
Page 330 and 331:
CHAPTER EIGHT: GENERAL CONCLUSIONS:
Page 332 and 333:
APPENDIX I: PROGRAMME OF ACTION OF
Page 334 and 335:
Page 336 and 337:
Page 338 and 339:
Page 340 and 341:
Page 342 and 343:
Page 344 and 345:
Page 346 and 347:
Page 348 and 349:
Page 350 and 351:
Page 352 and 353:
Page 354 and 355:
Page 356 and 357:
Page 358 and 359:
Page 360 and 361:
Page 362 and 363:
Page 364 and 365:
Page 366 and 367:
Page 368 and 369:
Page 370 and 371:
Page 372 and 373:
Page 374 and 375:
Page 376 and 377:
Page 378 and 379:
Page 380 and 381:
Page 382 and 383:
Page 384 and 385:
Page 386 and 387:
Page 388 and 389:
Page 390 and 391:
Page 392 and 393:
Page 394 and 395:
Page 396 and 397:
Page 398 and 399:
Page 400 and 401:
Page 402 and 403:
Page 404 and 405:
Page 406 and 407:
Page 408 and 409:
APPENDIX II: BENINESE GOVERNMENT CO
Page 410 and 411:
Page 412 and 413:
Page 414 and 415:
Page 416 and 417:
Page 418 and 419:
Page 420 and 421:
Page 422 and 423:
APPENDIX III: REPORT ON THE PEER RE
Page 424 and 425:
Page 426 and 427:
Page 428 and 429:
Page 430 and 431:
Page 432 and 433:
Page 434:
show all

Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?