Benin

As the meeting point of two important regional corridors: the Abidjan-Lagos corridor and the Cotonou-Niamey corridor, Benin's geographical position makes this West African country a major commercial and tourist crossroads. Benin has 121 kilometers of coastline along the Gulf of Guinea and shares borders with Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo.

The country enjoys a stable political situation, marked by successive democratic alternations. On January 11, 2026, two parties supporting the incumbent president, Patrice Talon, won the legislative elections, securing all 109 seats in parliament, as the opposition did not reach the 10% national vote threshold required to sit. The presidential election will be held on April 12, 2026.

The population was 14.5 million in 2024, with a fertility rate of 5.7 children per woman and a life expectancy of 61.2 years (up 0.5 years from 60.7 years in 2023). Between 2021 and 2022, the national poverty rate was at 36.2%, down 2.3 percentage points from 2018-2019. The unemployment rate was 2.4%, while underemployment affected 72% of the labor force, and 90.1% of workers were employed in the informal sector.

Between 1990 and 2023, the value of Benin's Human Development Index increased from 0.351 to 0.515, an increase of 46.7%. Over the same period 1990 - 2023, life expectancy at birth in Benin increased by 7.8 years, the expected duration of schooling increased by 5.6 years and the average duration of schooling increased by 1.7 years. Benin's gross national income per capita has increased by about 70.9% between 1990 and 2023.

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In 2025, growth remained robust, reaching 8% over the first three quarters, up from 7.5% in 2024, driven by strong performances in services and industry sectors. Services were the main growth driver, led by trade and transport. Port activities have returned to their pre-Niger border closure levels, boosted by Nigerian rising demand, new regional trade routes along with rising export volumes.

Construction and manufacturing both strengthened, boosting secondary sector growth. Agriculture sector continued growing, consistent with export-crop diversification and modernization efforts. Although food inflation increased to 3.4% in 2025, headline inflation fell to 1.1%, down from 1.2% in 2024, driven by deflation in restaurants, utilities, and communication services. Benin's fiscal consolidation has reduced the deficit and public debt, reaching the WAEMU target of 3% of GDP in 2025 thanks to higher tax revenues and lower investment spending. Benin remains at a moderate risk of debt distress.

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The Social Safety Net Strengthening Program aims to expand the national productive social safety net program for poor households, known as Gbéssoké. At least 150,000 people, representing 61% of the extremely poor households listed in the Single Social Register (RSU), will benefit from the program.

The Youth Inclusion Project (PRODIJ) supports the deployment of the Azôli program, which aims at the economic and social inclusion of young people with little or no education, aged 15 to 30, by giving priority to young girls and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly from areas vulnerable to violent extremism. A total of 49,900 young people has already benefited from the program, 44% of whom are young women.

Benin is also participating in Phase 2 of the Regional Unique Identification Program for Regional Integration and Inclusion in West Africa (WURI), which aims to increase the number of people with unique proof of identity, thereby facilitating their access to services. The WURI program has already made it possible to grant the identification card (fID certificate) free of charge to nearly 6 million people.

The Agricultural Competitiveness and Export Diversification Support Project (PACOFIDE) of $160 million aims to create an enabling policy environment for increased private sector investments in agriculture, increased productivity for targeted value chains, better market access, and export diversification. In June 2024, the Bank approved an additional financing of $150 million to the Project, to support the development of 3,000 hectares for irrigated rice and vegetable production in Northen Benin. These efforts aim to create new livelihood and employment opportunities for youth, women, and vulnerable groups, to strengthen resilience in the areas mostly affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. To date, the project has reached 592,512 beneficiaries.

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In July 2025, parliament approved the National Development Vision 2060. This vision, which will replace the Alafia Vision 2025, from January 2026, will serve as the basis for future development plans.

Aligned with the government's development plan, the World Bank Group's Country Partnership Framework for Benin covering 2018-2023 focused on three areas: structural transformation of the economy to promote competitiveness and productivity; investments in Human Capital; building resilience and reducing climate vulnerability.

In 2026, the preparation of the new Country Partnership Framework for Benin (2026-2033) was launched with consultations extended to government, academia, civil society, the private sector and development partners to identify the country's main development priorities.

The World Bank Group's commitments currently stand at $3.3 billion, including $3 billion to finance 16 national projects and $300 million for seven regional projects.

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The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is enhancing its role in private sector development in Benin, aligning its efforts with government objectives and the conclusions of the Private Sector Diagnostic (PSD) released in 2023. In practice, this translates into a portfolio of strategic actions across infrastructure, finance, and sector development

In Logistics, IFC has made a significant investment in Benin Terminal, including the development of 15 hectares of additional storage space and the modernization of terminal access. These enhancements are expected to increase the static container storage capacity by approximately 33%, alleviate bottlenecks, and improve the overall quality of service provided at the terminal.

IFC is increasing MSME lending by using risk-sharing tools, which help reduce risks in bank portfolios, based on its Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) approach. This aims to extend financial services to 2,000 individuals and businesses, including 300 women-owned enterprises. IFC also helps partner banks like NSIA Banque Benin strengthen RSF compliance and reporting and incorporate climate-finance advisory into product development.

Through the WEDAF Project, IFC, is helping ADPME meet SMEs’ needs, especially those led by women. IFC will also aid CDCB in issuing a gender bond, backed by IFC and the World Bank, to boost capital access for women-owned businesses.

In the tourism sector, IFC has conducted a study to identify investment opportunities within the tourism sector. The main objective is to promote stronger private sector participation, which is anticipated to drive economic growth and create jobs within industry.

IFC’s advisory services strengthen the sustainability and bankability of enterprises. In 2025, an average of 10 companies received training in financial and accounting management. In 2026, these firms will gain further support in governance, environmental and social standards, and operational improvements.

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