World Bank Group’s New Country Partnership Framework for Benin

Promoting Structural Transformation, Increasing Resilience and Investing in Human Capital are Key Areas

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2018-- The World Bank Group today endorsed a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Benin covering the period from July 2018 to June 2023. The CPF presents the World Bank Group’s strategy to help the country achieve its development objectives as embodied in the Government’s Action Program, 2016-2021 (Programme d’action du gouvernement).

“This Country Partnership Framework will help Benin achieve higher rates of economic and social wellbeing. It is focused on achieving high impact outcomes and will help leverage synergies from within the World Bank Group by making the best use of existing special initiatives, maximizing finance for development and by partnering with other international institutions in ways that best employ the comparative advantages of each one,” said Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Benin.

The new CPF is structured around three key focus areas: (i) structural transformation for strengthened competitiveness and productivity; (ii) strengthening human capital; and (iii) increasing resilience and reducing disaster and climate-related vulnerabilities. Most specifically, the new strategy will support Benin’s rapid economic growth by fostering agricultural productivity, improving the sustainability of infrastructure (electricity, water and sanitation, digital economy), strengthening governance in the management of public finances, and promoting a more conducive environment for private sector investment and competitiveness.

Through its investments in human capital, the CPF will help improve the quality and relevance of education and vocational training to strengthen job creation, support the establishment of universal health care and pension systems, and strengthen social protection systems. Finally, the CPF will help reinforce the country’s resilience to economic and climate-related shocks at both community and national levels.

The new CPF has been developed jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), two institutions of the World Bank Group that are involved in private sector development. Both will act in complementarity to the World Bank approach. IFC will focus mainly on promoting sustainable inclusive growth, competitiveness and employment by primarily targeting the financial, power, telecoms and agribusiness sectors. On its side, MIGA will seek to mobilize sustainable foreign investments for Benin, by deploying its political risk insurance products.

“Our country program under this CPF is fully in line with the International Development Association (IDA18) priority themes which are also priority for Benin, and which include gender, climate change, employment and economic transformation, governance and institutions, and fragility,” said Laporte.