Benin National Assembly Approves 2025 Budget

The Benin National Assembly has approved its 2025 budget, which amounts to over 29 billion FCFA. This represents a significant increase compared to the 2024 budget. The President of the National Assembly, Louis Vlavonou, attributed the increase to the ongoing construction of the organization’s new headquarters in Porto Novo.

Unanimous Approval

The budget was approved unanimously by the deputies present in the National Assembly. Many of them congratulated President Vlavonou for his leadership and expressed their support for the construction of the new headquarters. Some deputies suggested revising certain budget lines upwards to strengthen the ability of deputies to vote on laws.

Female Parliamentarians Speak Out

Female parliamentarians emphasized the importance of changing their image positively and requested that the new parliament seat be available to them as soon as possible. They expressed hope that the deputies of the next legislature would be able to integrate the building. The other deputies joined them in calling for the new building to be available as soon as possible.

Budget 2025 in a Nutshell

The approved budget is set at 29,318,497,496 billion FCFA, representing an 18.27% increase compared to the 2024 budget. The increase is attributed to the inclusion of a 7 billion FCFA budget line for the repayment costs of the loan granted to continue the construction of the new headquarters.

Implementation of the 2024 Budget

President Vlavonou presented the implementation of the National Assembly’s budget for 2024, highlighting a general expenditure of 16,836,369,140 FCFA, with an implementation rate of 61.01% of the revised budget.

Deputies’ Observations

Several deputies took to the floor to share their observations, congratulating President Vlavonou and the Quaestors for their efforts in ensuring that documents reached deputies in time. They praised the clarity of the documents submitted for assessment.

Recruitment and Credits

Deputies raised questions about recruiting administrative staff for the National Assembly and the allocation of credits to various networks of Beninese parliamentarians and friendship groups. President Vlavonou addressed these concerns, stating that there has been only one recruitment since the 8th legislature and encouraging deputies to consider the quarterly allocation of resources.