Table of Contents
[Preamble].
[About Benin].
Economic Community of West African States
Economic Community of West African States, abbreviated as ECWAS in English, abbreviated as Cedeao in French).
West African Economic and Monetary Union
West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU in English, UEMOA in French).
[Reasons why Senda opened a factory in Benin].
[Benin's visit to China].
Digital Transformation of Beninese Enterprises
[Epilogue].
[Preamble].
Recently, on the occasion of the launch of the project of abeam Senda Africa BranchMr. Yosuke Nakano, Chairman and General Manager of ABAM Greater China, Mr. Qian Feng, Executive Vice President of DEGATRON Management Consulting (Shanghai), and Mr. Liu Xian, Project Leader of DEBEAM Management Consulting (Shenzhen), went to the Benin Senda factory to provide support before the project was launchedHe also discussed with Mr. Zhu of MD of Senda Benin on topics such as the market environment of Benin, West Africa, the reasons why Senda opened a factory in Benin, and the humanistic life of Benin.
[About Benin].
Benin is located in West Africa, bordering Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria, and the Gulf of Benin in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, and the largest city is Cotonou, which is also the economic center of Benin. The University has offices in Cotonou and Podonov.
Its economy is largely dependent on agriculture, with cotton, cashew nuts and pulses being the main crops. In addition, Benin has a number of small-scale handicrafts and manufacturing industries, such as textiles, food processing and the production of building materials. Benin is a multilingual country, with French as its official language, as well as several local languages such as Fon, Yoruba, and Baleba, which are widely spoken in everyday life.
Economic Community of West African States
Economic Community of West African States, abbreviated as ECWAS in English, abbreviated as Cedeao in French).
There are a number of regional economic organizations on the African continent, all of which are committed to promoting economic integration of member countries, promoting ** and development, and addressing common political and security issues. In the Zambia series of articles by abeam China Global, we introduced the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and this time we will introduce the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) through Benin.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established in 1975 in Nigeria after the signing of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Treaty by 16 countries, and Mauritania, the founding member, withdrew in 2000, leaving 15 member states. ECOWAS aims to promote economic cooperation and integrated development among member countries in order to enhance the economic power and influence of the West African region. Under the framework of ECOWAS, member states cooperate in various fields such as investment, monetary policy, agriculture, energy, and transportation through a common system of laws and economic provisions.
04 West African Economic and Monetary Union
West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU in English, UEMOA in French).
Benin is one of the French-speaking countries of West Africa and a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which is made up of eight French-speaking West African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) member states share a common currency, the West African CFA franc (FCFA), and maintain currency stability through the West African Bank. In recent years, the independent currencies of some West African countries have faced the challenge of weak currency stability brought about by factors such as political instability, incoherent economic policies, and unbalances.
On the contrary,The West CFA franc has a high degree of currency stability, mainly due to its fixed exchange rate system with the euro and guarantees from the French Ministry of Finance. This system allows countries that use the CFA franc to offset some of the risks associated with inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.
[Reasons why Senda opened a factory in Benin].
When mentioning why the factory was opened in Benin, Mr. Zhu of MD Benin gave the following three reasons:The political situation is stable, the policy is friendly, and the business environment is convenient.
Based on these three considerations, Mori University has decided to invest in Benin in 2021, although it already has a branch in Nigeria, a neighbor of Benin's largest economy.
Political stability
In recent years, armed coups and social tensions have occurred in some countries in Central and West Africa, and the instability of political power and the emergence of power vacuums have brought great challenges to the country's social order and investment stability.
And compared to other countries,The political situation in Benin is relatively stable. Since the democratic transition in 1990, Benin has successfully carried out a number of peaceful transitions of power and is regarded as a model of democracy in the West African region. At the same time, the public security situation in Benin continues to improve, providing a safe environment for business and tourism activities.
Policy-friendly
Benin** actively promotes economic diversification and liberalization, with a special focus on attracting investment and promoting industrial development. In this regard, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade play an important role.
Mr. Romualde Wadani, Minister of State and Minister of Economy and Finance of Benin, is a graduate of Harvard University and has been voted the best Minister of Finance in Africa on several occasions. Mr. Romuald Ouadani said that Benin** has undergone a series of pragmatic and efficient reforms to improve the business environment in energy, taxation and labor to attract foreign investment. It has also formulated a series of friendly policies such as tax reduction, relaxation of market access, simplification of administrative procedures, etc., and has also given great attention and support to representative private enterprises such as Senda, so that Chinese enterprises have the opportunity to communicate directly with the Minister of Finance and negotiate projects.
In 2016, Talon was elected as the new Benin, and Talon and Singapore attached great importance to relations with China, affirmed China's development model, and the development of friendly and cooperative relations between China and Benin continued to improve.
In search of further development, Benin** was introduced at the end of 2016"Benin Rise Plan" (Bénin Révélé).。Among them, the development of industrialization as part of its national strategy has also received key attention, which is also highly consistent with the group strategy of Senda Group. Ms. Asouman, Minister of Industry and Trade of Benin, also personally led a team to visit the production line of Beninson's large factory.
Ease of doing business
Benin's business environment is convenient and it is in an advantageous position compared to other countries in Africa. Among them, Benin's government system has a high degree of electronicization. At the same time, each department clearly stipulates the acceptance time of the business, which allows many enterprises to apply directly for business online, greatly reducing the intervention of human factors, improving the efficiency of enterprises, and allowing enterprises to focus more on their own production and operation.
[Benin's visit to China].
Recently, Benin's Talon visited China and held talks with Benin in the Great Hall of the People, and announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Benin.
During the talks, he expressed China's support for Benin to independently explore a development path in line with its own realities, and wished Benin an early realization of the vision of "Benin's rise". Benin**Talon also said that the high-quality cooperation between Benin and China will be mutually beneficial and win-win, which will effectively promote the industrialization process of Benin and help Benin better achieve national development.
On the occasion of Benin's visit to China, Mr. Zhu, MD of Senda Benin, was interviewed by a reporter from CGTN. Mr. Zhu said that the diaper factory in Benin has employed nearly 100 local employees in less than a year since it opened, and the planned production capacity of the factory is more than 15 million disposable baby diapers per month.
During the interview, Mr. Zhu talked about the opportunities and challenges of building a factory in Benin"Having a factory here allows us to respond more quickly to market demands. Benin's political stability and good social order are the basic conditions for our stable operation. At the same time, Benin** is very friendly to China and has created a favorable environment for foreign companies. Of course, because the level of industrialization is still low, it is difficult to find skilled workers. Compared to China, local resources are also relatively scarce, and Mori University has to import a large amount of raw materials and packaging materials, and the power supply is not very stable. ”
Benin's visit to China is expected to attract more direct investment from China, and the friendly policy between China and Benin has also injected confidence and impetus into the development of Chinese enterprises such as Senda in Benin.
Digital Transformation of Beninese Enterprises
In recent years, Benin and other African countries have gradually implemented a series of digital infrastructure construction projects, and many enterprises operating in African countries have also followed the trend and have begun to strengthen their investment in the field of digital technology, optimize the production efficiency of enterprise operations, optimize customer service, and achieve data-driven decision-making to keep pace with the rapidly changing market environment, and ultimately promote the long-term development of enterprises.
Abeam's one-stop digital transformation service line includes the entire process from strategic planning to system design, implementation, testing and operation and maintenance, and can provide personalized consulting and technical services for local enterprises with extensive industry experience accumulated in previous projects, understanding and insight into the local market**, and the company's global expert consultant resources.
In the challenging task of digital transformation for Beninese companies, Abeam wants to be able to stay close to our clients and support them in staying ahead of the future business environment.
[Epilogue].
Through the dialogue with Mr. Zhu, we learned about a different Benin and West Africa. We wish Benin Senda Group a prosperous and successful business, and Abeam will continue to work hand in hand with Senda Group to provide continuous and strong support for its development in the African market.