On Tuesday 25 June, the Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation installed the technical labelling committee.
The adoption in March 2023 of the decree on granting the Startup Label to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises was the culmination of a long process that began in 2018 with the Benin Startup Week initiative, which consisted of a series of visits to Beninese startups offering innovative solutions within Benin's digital ecosystem. These visits made it possible to gain a better understanding of their solutions, products and services and to grasp the real difficulties they face and some of the realities of our startups.
In direct line with the implementation of the decree, the Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation installed the technical labelling committee on Tuesday 25 June.
On this occasion, the Minister Aurelie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU recalled that labelling is a vision championed by the Head of State. After congratulating the members of the committee, she invited them to take ownership of the various guidance documents, while expressing the wish that the call for applications for granting the Startup Label to the 1st cohort of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises be launched by September at the latest.
Mission of the technical labelling committee
The committee is a consultative body whose mission is to grant the Startup Label. In this capacity, it is responsible for:
- Receiving and examining the applications of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
- Periodically publishing the list of labelled startups
- Notifying the decisions resulting from the examination of applications
- Issuing decisions to revoke a label that has been granted
Composition of the technical labelling committee
The committee is made up of seven members appointed for a renewable term of two years:
Mr Djabirou AMADOU, Deputy Chief of Staff and representative of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation, Chair of the committee;
Mr Krishna LOKOSSOU, Director General of La Poste Bénin SA and representative of the Ministry of Economy and Finance;
Mr Honorat SATOGUINA, Director General of ABeVRIT and representative of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research;
Mr Laurent GANGBES, Director General of ADPME and representative of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Development Agency (ADPME);
Mr Régis TADE, Director of Innovative Entrepreneurship and representative of Sèmè City;
Mr Jean-Marie DEHOU, representative of the Ministry of Health;
Mr Conrad GBAGUIDI, Director General of MGT Conseils and a figure appointed by the Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation.
The adoption of this decree provides a regulatory framework conducive to identifying and labelling Beninese startups in order to support their economic growth. In particular, it strengthens the arrangements put in place by the Government to create an environment favourable to entrepreneurship, notably with the creation of a one-stop shop for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, in order to offer them a suitable financing mechanism.