Benin: Minutes of the Council of Ministers Meeting on Wednesday, June 18, 2025
The government of change convened this Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in a cabinet meeting. Following this governmental conclave, the following decisions were made.
I- Normative measures.
Under this heading, the decrees were adopted carrying:
transmission to the National Assembly, for examination and vote, of the bill amending article 6 of law n°2020-04 of May 8, 2020 regarding the legal, fiscal, and customs regime applicable to the Niger-Benin export pipeline project;
approval of the statutes of the National Road Safety Center.
II- Communications.
II-1. Contracting for the realization of various services related to the project “Reinventing the lakeside town of Ganvié”.
As part of the implementation of this project, various sub-projects are, depending on their level of maturity, either in the “work” phase or in the process of finalizing architectural and technical studies.
These include the construction of a domestic wastewater treatment system, the renovation/rehabilitation of the Abomey-Calavi jetty, the marking of secondary and tertiary channels, which are part of the improvement of hygiene and sanitation conditions in the said town.
Responding to the imperatives of safety, comfort, space functionality, and architectural design, various service providers have been identified. They will be responsible for project management assistance, monitoring the architectural conformity of buildings as well as other requirements related to the infrastructure to be implemented.
The Council has therefore pronounced in favor of contracts to be concluded with them, with the responsibility of the concerned ministers to ensure the proper execution of their services.
II-2. Contracting for the realization of prototypes of lakeside dwellings in Ganvié.
The traditional dwellings of the lakeside town of Ganvié, although ingenious, face major challenges such as the aging of structures, roof fragility, the risk of collapse, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters.
To overcome these difficulties and offer a better living environment to the populations, the project “Reinventing Ganvié lakeside town” plans, in a first phase, the construction of two hundred and fifty (250) lakeside dwellings with a long-term objective of one thousand (1000) built units.
To define the materials and execution methods suitable for equipment durability, it is planned to have prototypes of the housing model made, knowing that these will identify the suitable approach to the improvement of the built environment, accessible to indigenous communities.
To this end, the Council authorized the contracting with an experienced company for the construction of these prototypes. This company has proven its know-how in the use of fine, durable and suitable materials for lakeside dwellings. Their samples were also presented to the project owner.
II-3. Assignment of project management for the construction and equipment of the Training Center for Local Administration (CeFAL) facilities, in Allada.
This center is dedicated to the training and capacity building of territorial administration agents and communal, municipal and local elected officials from Benin or other countries.
The construction project of the CeFAL headquarters includes specifically:
an administrative building composed of a fully equipped three-story building;
a fully equipped building, composed of four (4) educational blocks for the Diploma Training and Continuous Training departments and a 200-seat amphitheater for common core courses;
two three-story buildings with fifty dormitories each and a three-story building with a hundred (100) studios;
a clinic and various external arrangements.
The Council agreed that a qualified company should be tasked with the delegated project management mission, which covers the complete implementation of the project.
II-4. Report on the seminar on the implementation of the structural reform of the decentralization sector.
The President of the Republic reported to the Council on this seminar, organized at his initiative on June 13, 2025. It resulted in frank debates that allowed for a factual and responsible analysis of current practices and proposed improvements.
The Council noted with satisfaction that despite some difficulties identified here and there, all stakeholders praised the relevance of the reform implemented in 2022. Consequently, they hoped for its more efficient implementation in order to definitively make decentralization a real socio-economic development tool serving grassroot populations.
To this end, taking into account the concerns and complaints expressed by the participants, the Council believes that in the future mayors should draw three names at random from the database and choose from among them, on the spot, one to serve as Executive Secretary.
They also recognized the necessity of their greater involvement in the execution and monitoring of projects and programs driven by the central administration in their municipalities.
Furthermore, regarding complaints related to the delay in handling disputes over communal public markets, the Government will agree with the Public Markets Regulation Authority on diligent procedures that can be implemented to promote the examination of appeals as quickly as possible, in order not to penalize the actions planned within the execution of the municipal budget.
In the same vein, the possibility of appointing a financial control delegate per municipality will be studied.
IV- International meetings and events.
Under this heading, it was authorized:
Benin’s participation in the meeting of the CONFEMEN Bureau, from June 18 to 20, 2025 in Wendake, Canada; as well as that
of the Ministry of Energy, Water, and Mines in the statutory meetings related to its sectors for the year 2025.
Done in Cotonou, on June 18, 2025,
The Secretary General of the Government,
Edouard OUIN-OUROU
Comments