Latest news with #WAEMU
Zawya
17-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Benin Can Mobilize More Domestic Resources to Drive Inclusive Growth and Equity
More inclusive growth path, taxation and spending adapted to vulnerable populations could further accelerate efforts to reduce poverty and inequality, notes the latest edition of the Benin Economic Outlook report. The first part of the report, Raising Domestic Revenue Mobilization while Protecting the Poor, analyzes recent economic developments and presents the country's medium-term prospects. In 2024, Benin's economic growth reached 7.5%, its highest level since 1990, thanks to the strong performance of the services and industrial sectors. Poverty fell by 2.2 percentage points, from 33.2% in 2023 to 31% in 2024. Continued fiscal consolidation helped achieve the West African Economic Monetary Union –WAEMU-- fiscal deficit target of 3% in 2024 and reduce the debt, thereby helping to improve the country's debt profile. Benin is on the verge of integrating into global value chains with the development of the Glo-Djigbé industrial zone (GDIZ). Despite heightened global trade uncertainties and volatile trade relations with neighboring countries, economic growth is projected to average 7.1% over 2025-2027. The dynamism of economic activity added to the moderation in inflation should support a decline in poverty to 22.3% in 2027. " Continued efforts to mobilize domestic resources and a rebalancing of the composition of debt in favor of domestic debt, in line with medium-term revenue mobilization and debt strategies, should enable Benin to maintain its macroeconomic stability, which is critical for attracting private investment and supporting the ongoing economic transformation." says Mamadou Tanou Baldé, World Bank Economist and Lead author of the report. The second part of the report focuses on domestic revenue mobilization while protecting the poor. The simplification of tax policy and the digitization of tax collection processes have improved the quality of services and secured revenue collection. Revenue mobilization in Benin has steadily increased since 2016 and has demonstrated resilience in the face of various shocks, including border closures with some neighboring countries, the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising cost of living in 2022, and insecurity. Tax revenue, the main driver of revenue growth, increased from 9.2% of GDP in 2016 to 13.2% in 2024, an increase of 4% over the period. Despite this progress, the gap with its peers remains and Benin needs to increase domestic revenue mobilization to finance its development plan. While Benin's fiscal system reduces inequality by 3 Gini points, an improvement in the fiscal system, including a mix of more targeted taxes and transfers, could lift more than 100,000 people out of poverty each year while continuing to mobilize more resources. " To improve the situation, Benin should strengthen social safety nets, implement more progressive taxation and increase social spending more targeted at the poorest to improve the redistributive impact of its fiscal policies," adds Arthur Alik-Lagrange, World Bank Lead Economist and co-author of the report. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.
Zawya
08-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
African Development Bank, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Ombudsmen Association meet to strengthen peace, stability and regional integration in West Africa
On 28 March 2025 the Director of the Regional Integration Coordination Office of the African Development Bank ( Joy Kategekwa, received a delegation from the Ombudsmen Association of the member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Led by the association's president, Pascal Essou, Ombudsman of the Republic of Benin, the meeting took place at the Bank's headquarters in Abidjan. The ombudsmen were keen to obtain the support of the Bank in strengthening the rule of law, regional integration and confidence of citizens in the administrations of the eight WAEMU countries. 'I would like to thank the Bank for receiving us with such commitment and enthusiasm in order to begin technical discussions with our Association aimed at deepening strategic dialogue and identifying synergies between our action, on the one hand, and the Bank's strategic priorities, the High 5s, and its regional integration strategy document for West Africa 2020-2025, on the other hand,' Essou said. The meeting was attended by ombudsmen for Côte d'Ivoire, Adama Toungara, and for Senegal, Demba Kandji, who are respectively Secretary General and Treasurer of the Association, as well as by WAEMU representative in Côte d'Ivoire, Gustave Diasso, and several of their colleagues. Created in 2008 and based in Ouagadougou, the Ombudsmen Association promotes mediation, citizens' rights, administrative justice and regional integration in its member countries. It also works for the prevention and resolution of conflicts and crises, supporting long-term peace and the universal and effective application of community law in the union's countries. The association brings together all the ombudsman institutions of eight countries in West Africa's franc zone: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. During the meeting, the association's Strategic Plan for 2025-2029, which is structured around five pillars: governance and the rule of law, performance and partnerships, peace and security, research, and institutional development and communication, was shared. The plan will be validated at a high-level round table on resource mobilisation to be held in Dakar on 29 April. The association asked the Bank to contribute to the success of the round table and to mobilise new partners and the resources that are needed to implement the plan. The Abidjan meeting also considered possible avenues of support from the African Development Bank such as technical and financial assistance, strategic advice. Kategekwa praised the work of ombudsmen in promoting regional integration, strengthening governance, promoting the rule of law, and fostering civic engagement and administrative efficiency in WAEMU member countries. She also pointed out that the Strategic Plan of the WAEMU Ombudsmen Association is aligned with the Bank Group's Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa (2022-2026) ( She emphasised the role of the Transition Support Facility ( and the window for regional public goods ( as instruments that can be used to leverage resilience in areas of fragility and governance in Africa. 'I applaud the initiative by the WAEMU Ombudsmen Association to organise a round table on resource mobilisation. The outcome of this meeting will undoubtedly strengthen our common commitment to building a more integrated, peaceful and just West Africa,' she said. Kategekwa was accompanied at the meeting by other Bank staff: the Chief Coordinator for Regional Funds Management, Youssouf Koné; the Head of the Transition States Coordination Office, Riadh Ben Messaoud; and Officer for Institutional Capacity Building, Marcel Maglo. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
