Contacts In Washington: Aby Toure +1 202 473 8302 akonate@worldbank.org In Cotonou : Sylvie Nenonene (229) 21 30 58 57 snenonene@worldbank.org Nadiath Dende (229) 21 30 58 57 ndende@worldbank.org
WASHINGTON, April 29, 2008 – The Board of Directors of the World Bank approved today a credit 1 to the Republic of Benin to assist in the implementation of the Competitiveness and Integrated Growth Opportunity Project (CIGOP).
Of a total of US$25 million, CIGOP aims to promote and support the identification and the transformation by the private sector, of new economic opportunities through enterprise and entrepreneurship development. The interventions financed under the project are based on the development of new products and new markets as factors of the integration of the private sector in productive activities in Benin. The design of CIGOP reflects lessons learned from the implementation of the Private Sector Development Project – funded by the World Bank and closed in December 2007 – and the vision of the Government of Benin through the document on the Strategic development guidelines 2006-2011, and the Letter of Development Policy for the private sector.
The CIGOP will be implemented through two main components. The first one which seeks to Improving business development infrastructure will cover, inter alia, the following interventions: (i) the full integration of the Center for Enterprise formality [“Centre de Formalités des Enterprises—CFE] to the business development infrastructure at completion of its transformation into a one-stop shop with the support of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA); (ii) the creation of a one-stop shop for investors; (iii) the creation of a one-stop shop for export procedures; (iv) the rationalization and the integration of enterprises formalization activities with investment promotion activities and exports promotion activities, through the creation of a (single) Investment Promotion and Export Agency (Agence de Promotion des Investissements et des Exportations APIEX); (v) the reform of the Investment Code to adapt to reflect the new approaches to economic promotion; (vi) the reform of the institutional and legal frameworks to create relevant conditions for effective delivery of the newly created and integrated economic and investment promotion structures; (vii) the creation of a more relevant framework for financial intermediation for better access to finance by the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and micro-enterprises; (xiii) the creation of a Secretariat which will help operationalize strategic and sector specific prescriptions emanating from the Presidential Investment Council’s (PIC) meetings [the PIC is a platform for public-private dialogue]; and finally (ix) the reform of the corporate tax system to make it more consistent with the requirements of the economic promotion anchored in enterprise and entrepreneurship developments.
As described, the first component of CIGOP will serve as institutional logistics for the second one (Products and markets development), which aims at catalyzing the direct creation of new enterprises through proactive policies based on the development of enterprises, the development of their products and the expansion of their markets. To this end, interventions under this second component are based on two radically new instruments: (i) the creation of a Project Development Fund (PDF); and (ii) the completion of a Minimum Integrated Trade Expansion Platform (MITEP).
The PDF will sequentially finance all stages that are critical to the development of an enterprise project, from project identification to loan syndication and going through market studies and development of bankable business plans. MITEP will offer in one single package, an infrastructure base, relevant software drivers and technical assistance that will help existing and newly created enterprises access relevant trade information for product adaptation, product development and market expansion. To make this new enterprise and entrepreneurship development approach sustainable, MITEP will also support the development of local expertise to that is necessary to help SMEs access vital functions they need to fill out (in terms of product development, market access, planning of production lines, etc.) while not being capable of securing in the context of their internal organizations.
Papa Demba Thiam, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank and responsible for the CIGOP, welcomed the approval of the project by the Board and presented the advantages of the project: “The project which has just been approved to day represents a clear paradigm shift in terms of private sector development. The philosophy that underlies the project design emphasizes the need for measured and appropriate direct interventions (“less State but better State”) as opposed to the "laissez-faire", in context of a market economy which, after all, remains to be constructed. The CIGOP has the advantage to deliver a set of integrated interventions in one single package. In effect, the CIGOP uses the business development infrastructure, as well as the Project Development Fund (PDF) and the Minimum Integrated Trade Expansion Platform (MITEP) to support the development of new enterprises and jobs creations on the basis of the transformation of Benin national resources ”.
The proactive trade information system within "MITEP," will help investors identify direct resource transformation opportunities. The Quality, Standards, Metrology and Testing (QSMT) infrastructure that is embodied in the same platform will them enterprises overcome technical barriers to trade and settle on to the exacting markets. The development of the market of specialized business development services which is also part of MITEP will help enterprises access the expertise that is needed to use standards and trade information in order to adapt and develop products.
Finally, thanks to this new infrastructure base, investment and trade development support structures will now be able to play their role and help integrate value and supply chains in all sectors, from initial investment to marketing of Beninese products. “By helping Benin adopt such an approach through the financing of CIGOP, the Board of Directors of the World Bank confirms its commitment to help democratize entrepreneurship in Benin, by making the creation of new products and new markets on which is based the viability of any company ,accessible to all. This paves the way to sustainable and shared growth built on the strengths of Benin's economy”, Thiam added. He expressed the hope that the implementation conditions are quickly met for an effective and quick start of CIGOP activities. ### For more information on the World Bank’s work in sub-Saharan Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr For more information on the World Bank’s work in Benin visit: http://www.worldbank.org/benin For more information about this project visit: http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=322639&menuPK=322673&Projectid=P104881
1 The credit is provided on standard International Development Association (IDA) terms, with a commitment charge of 0.50 percent per annum and a service charge of 0.75 percent per annum (on the disbursed credit balance) over a 40 year period of maturity which includes a 10-year grace period. |
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