Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY__________________________________________________________________________3.59 Transparency in, and information on, Benin’s enterprises. Generallyspeaking, there seems to be a lack of information on and in Benin‟senterprises. At the macroeconomic level, there are no sectoral studies orinformation on the various markets. This is depriving enterprises of knowledgeof their environment and threatening the survival of a number of enterprises.At the microeconomic level, very few enterprises in Benin have internal auditstructures.3.60 The lack of transparency in enterprises in the formal sector, obscurity ofenterprises in the informal sector, as well as governance problems of stateownedenterprises, create conditions for the chartered accounting professionthat are not yet conducive to providing reliable accounting and financialinformation.3.4 Socioeconomic development3.61 The socioeconomic development challenges faced by Benin are numerous.The economy is still dominated by exploitation of agricultural resources,primarily cotton, and the activities of Cotonou Port. Growth driven by thesesectors remains inadequate to reverse the negative trends in poverty, whichstill affects more than 30% of the population. This situation could, if itpersists, undermine the attainment of the key Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) by 2015, particularly in education, health, access to drinking waterand poverty reduction. The response to this situation requires a developmentframework conducive to the creation of decent and sustainable employment inurban and rural areas, driven by strong economic growth.3.62 However, given the small size of the domestic market (about 7.6 millioninhabitants), the generation of an annual average growth of more than 7%requires greater integration into the world market so as to boost and diversifythe exports of goods and services. Improvement of the overall and sectoralcompetitiveness of the economy remains the lifeblood of this new strategy,and it is an important challenge that has to be accepted. This requires thecreation of an economic and institutional environment of internationalstandards.3.63 Concerning international commitments, the CRM noted with satisfactionthat Benin has ratified all the conventions and adhered to the standards andcodes recommended by the CSAR. However, much effort still has to be madein publishing these documents in the Official Gazette of the Republic ofBenin. They should be included in national legislation and disseminated to thepopulation who would benefit from them.3.64 Promotion of, and capacity building for, self-reliant development.Ownership of the socioeconomic development process with less dependenceon external aid and policies for socioeconomic development constitute majorchallenges in the democratisation process. Meanwhile, the influence of TFPsin development programmes and policies is strong. Overseas developmentassistance (ODA) accounts for more than 60% of the financing of20