Opening of the National Assembly’s budget session: update on the agenda items
The National Assembly of Benin is preparing to open, on Friday, October 31, 2025, its second ordinary session of the year, commonly called the budget session.
SUMMARY
On this occasion, the spokesperson for the Parliament president, Vitali Boton, revealed the list of draft bills and proposed laws that will be examined by the deputies.
This session, the last before the end of the current legislature’s mandate, will, according to him, mark the close of “an exemplary parliamentary governance, quality legislative output and a constant democratic dialogue.”
It will also be devoted to the presentation of the activity report of President Louis Vlavonou, covering the period from April 1 to September 30, 2025.
On the agenda of parliamentary work
Among the major texts on the agenda are:
-The 2026 finance bill, the centerpiece of the session;
-The new road code, expected to modernize traffic regulation in Benin;
-The bill on the environment, focused on preserving natural resources;
-A proposed law amending the conditions for implementing employment contracts, aimed at adapting to current economic realities;
-Amendment of the digital code (Law 2017-20) to strengthen digital governance and cybersecurity;
-Revision of the status of the Economic and Social Council (Law 2024-26 of July 17, 2024);
-Amendment of the law on legal holidays, inherited from 1990, to update the national calendar;
-The new statute of the Bar of Benin, framing the legal profession;
-An amendment to the law on national orders, notably its Article 94;
-A request for a second reading of the law on private practice for medical and paramedical professions;
-The bill on public contracting authority, intended to strengthen transparency in the management of infrastructure;
Several ratification authorizations for international conventions and protocols, including:
the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (Act of 1991),
the optional protocols relating to economic, social and cultural rights,
the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992 Water Convention),
the Convention governing the UEMOA Banking Commission,
and the COCAD Convention signed with the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.
Finally, the deputies will examine the 2022 activity report and financial situation of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations du Bénin (CDCB).
A strategic session before the end of the term. This session therefore promises to be strategic and intense, between budget review, international ratifications and sectoral reforms. It could represent a symbolic closing project for the eighth legislature, on the eve of a new political phase.
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