Resource information
With favorable geographical location,
macroeconomic stability, debt reduction, progress on
structural reforms, and political stability, Benin will seem
to have the foundations for a dynamic, diversified economy.
Yet the country's economic structure has not evolved,
remaining highly dependent on cotton and transit trade, and
per-capita growth has slowed down in recent years. The
government has requested the World Bank's assistance in
understanding the constraints to growth and evaluating the
country's potential for diversification and innovation
as it seeks to lead the country to emerging market status by
2020. The government is well aware that the vulnerabilities
associated with the country's dependence on cotton and
transit trade impede the attainment of this goal. Response
to the government's request, the objective of the Benin
Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) is therefore to identify
and analyze the key economic and institutional constraints
to growth, including through diversification and innovation.
The CEM contains four main chapters, each providing
theoretical or empirical analyses of Benin's economic
situation and prospects: a) cross-sectoral binding
constraints to growth; b) analysis of specific constraints
in the cotton and transit trade sectors; c) diversification
and innovation potential; and d) political economy of growth.
