Benin - Public Finance Management and Business Climate Improvement Support Project

Benin’s ambition to build an emerging economy in the sub-region led the Government in 2006 to adopt the Strategic Development Orientations (SDO) for the 2006-2011 period. The initial stage of the SDO involves: (i) building a development-driven public administration; (ii) improving the quality of governance; and (iii) fostering private initiative. In that context, the Government of Benin has identified the improvement of public finance management and the business climate among the key priorities of its Growth for Poverty Reduction Strategies (GPRS 2007-2009 and GPRS 2011-2015 in the preparation phase). These priorities tie in with the overall objectives of the SDO that aims at meeting the challenges of economic competitiveness and improved governance, with a view to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Hence, to help it achieve this objective, the Beninese Government sought Bank assistance to finance the project under consideration. The request for financing was forwarded to the Bank in October 2009. The appraisal mission to Cotonou was fielded from 9 to 21 May 2010.