Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER FIVE: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE__________________________________________________________________________645. Moreover, OHADA subregional standards contain criteria to converge taxes,which somewhat limits the government of Benin‟s leeway. The standards aimto establish better relations with taxpayers, especially by setting up a userreception structure and a service for large enterprises (whose turnover exceeds100 million CFA franc), and by a quick resolution of the costs in tax disputes.These efforts are, however, impeded by unbending bureaucracy. A case inpoint is the arbitration unit in the customs services, whose activities seem tohave been frozen for more than a year.646. Finally, it is worth mentioning that until the recent creation of the O.EC.C.A-Bénin, some tax inspectors also had their own accounting firms and operatedwith total impunity. This situation ought to have stopped with the newdirective, which requires at least two-thirds of the capital of a consultancy firmto be held by a chartered accountant on the rolls of the O.EC.C.A-Bénin.647. Respect for human and workers’ rightsRight of the youth to work. The ANPE.Box 5.5: The ANPEThe ANPE is a structure established to assist with professional placements, either throughself-employment or in paid employment. During meetings with officials of the ANPE in theDepartment of Ouémé, the CRM learnt that the agency introduced a programme for trainingentrepreneurs in 2005, which included:two or three weeks‟ training on enterprise creation;an internship in an enterprise for two or three months; andone week spent on the preparation of a business plan.After the training, the ANPE recommends the entrepreneurs to micro-finance establishments.The pilot project for 2005 involved 54 entrepreneurs. However, only seven entrepreneurs outof the 54 obtained funding from their enterprises to implement their projects. Between 2006and 2007, 5,000 entrepreneurs were registered in the programme, including 55 in theDepartment of Ouémé.The CRM noted that this programme is highly appreciated by stakeholders. However, thecurrent challenge is to establish the best relations with MFIs and other sources of funding andto mentor the entrepreneurs until they start their businesses. In an interview with thenewspaper La Citadelle in 2006, the (former) general manager of the ANPE noted that aftertraining, the ANPE follows-up on the entrepreneurs in the field to ensure that they managetheir business efficiently.Source: The APRM, http://beninhuzu.org, La Citadelle, „Efficient training of young Beninese projectpromoters‟, 13-12-2006.648. The CRM also observed that the technical and vocational training system atsecondary education level offers different types of training in the schools.These are: administrative and management sciences and techniques (STAG);agricultural science and techniques (STA); biological and social sciences(SBS); as well as hotel management and catering (HR). Students are trained in222