3.033,337 billions of F CFA. This is the budget voted by the deputies on 1 December in the Beninese parliament for the management of the State, fiscal year 2023. A budget that marks the acceleration of the “highly social” because more than CFAF 1,000 billion are devoted to social issues with a prospect of economic growth of 6.5% according to the government.
The 2023 government budget includes new social initiatives and strengthens budgetary allocations for existing programs. Among other social measures, we can mention the extension of the exemption of school contribution fees for girls in the second cycle of secondary education. Actions are also planned to assist and keep girls in school at the secondary, technical and vocational education level through the SWEDD Project. In addition, subsidies for free tuition at public universities will be significantly increased.
We should also note the institution for public or private secondary schools and literacy centres of daily life programmes organised under the name of “socio-educational classes” and the supervision and care of people who are wasting away and begging. In addition, access to electricity for all households by 2026 through the adoption of a policy to reduce connection fees also occupies a prominent place in the social actions that the Beninese executive plans to implement.
In 2021, during his investiture for a second term, Patrice Talon advocated the “highly social”. The Beninese Head of State has therefore undertaken several actions to benefit the population. Thus, we have the implementation of the ARCH project which is an Insurance for the reinforcement of human capital; the Alafia microcredit placed under the aegis of the National Microfinance Fund (FNM) with an interest rate of 4% for six months. And recently the subsidisation of basic necessities in the face of the global food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to name but a few.
In other words, the government intends to invest more than a third, or about 45%, of the budget provided for in the 2023 budget law in the social sector.
