Digital Transformation Center Benin

The Digital Transformation Center Benin strengthens the digital ecosystem by promoting innovation and supporting the national digital agenda. In collaboration with the local private sector and other BMZ initiatives, local expertise in the field of digital transformation is being built up sustainably.

At a glance

More than sixty years after gaining independence, the Republic of Benin has evolved from a low-income country to a middle-income country. However, despite the economic and political efforts, the country still faces major challenges. Exemplary are the diversification of its economy or the development of a modern infrastructure. The majority of the labour force continues to work in agriculture, the country’s dominant sector.

Since 2016, the Beninese government has placed particular emphasis on promoting innovation in the private sector and the digital transformation of the administration. This is reflected in the creation of new structures and institutions, the further development of regulatory frameworks for the promotion of innovation and digital entrepreneurship, as well as the country’s participation and active involvement in relevant regional initiatives such as Smart Africa. In order to sustainably anchor such approaches and ensure the development of an innovative ecosystem throughout the country, there is still a need for better access to financing, greater dissemination of digital skills and more networking opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Our approach

Since its establishment in 2021, the Digital Transformation Center Benin has supported various thematic priorities for the further development of Benin’s digital agenda:

e-Government (Beninnovation) (2022-2026)

“Beninnovation” has been supporting the Beninese government in advancing the country’s digital transformation since 2022. The project’s objective is to assist the Beninese Government to successfully leverage the innovative potential of the local private sector for the digitalisation of its public services. This is to be achieved through various levers:

Capacity building of employees working on digitalisation in the ministries so that they can implement innovative approaches for digital transformation in cooperation with stakeholders of the private sector.
Development of a project pipeline specifically geared towards the local private sector to increase the visibility of business potential. Drawing up methodological guidelines further increases the understanding of administrative processes and the technical standards required for digitalisation.
Elaboration of co-creation proposals for institutions to enable the collaborative development of innovations for use in the digital transformation of the public administration.
Empowerment of selected digital companies of the private sector to make an effective contribution to processes focusing on digital transformation within public administration and to develop inclusive, user-orientated services.

Digital entrepreneurship (Digital Transformation) (2021-2024)

The strengthening of local digital entrepreneurship in Benin was the aim of the project “Digital Transformation” for 30 months. The project collaborated with the Beninese government on topics such as access to data for the digital sector or the generation and transfer of relevant knowledge. The project also implemented initiatives to promote Beninese digital entrepreneurship at home and abroad.

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Digital learning (atingi4Ag) (2020-2023)

“Atingi4Ag” project promoted the capacity development of Beninese stakeholders regarding the identification, implementation and dissemination of agricultural innovations through digital tools.

Concrete activities have been planned and implemented complementarily and collaboratively with other GIZ activities such as projects promoting the development of the private sector or vocational trainings. The aim is to build local competencies in the field of digital transformation in line with the needs and potentials in Benin to ensure a sustainable outcome of the intervention and to guarantee the partner’s autonomy.