Benin puts a presidential committee in charge of tracking digital investments 🇧🇯💻

Cliquez ici pour lire en français

Benin is stepping up oversight of its digital investments. A new National Digital Committee, created by decree no. 2026-579 of 2 September 2026 and published on Friday 16 October, will sit alongside President Romuald Wadagni. Its job: steer the state’s strategic tech choices, track the progress of public digital projects, and keep watch on technological change and security risks.

The move comes as the West African country keeps modernising its administration: expanding online public services, managing documents electronically and moving paper procedures online (“dematerialisation”). Against that backdrop, the committee is meant to assess the results of ongoing projects and propose corrective measures when targets are missed.

Assessing public digital projects 📊

The committee’s main task is to review how public digital projects are progressing and to judge the results. Based on those assessments, it can propose corrective measures to improve delivery, and even recommend redirecting or stopping some initiatives when needed.

It must also give a prior opinion on major digital projects and on technology partnerships that could affect Benin’s digital sovereignty, meaning the country’s ability to keep control over its own data and systems. That gives it a say in how public investment in the sector is steered.

A complement to ASIN’s work 🏛️

The committee arrives alongside the Agence des systèmes d’information et du numérique (ASIN), Benin’s information systems and digital agency, which already handles the operational side of the state’s digital programmes. Its remit includes building digital infrastructure, securing information systems and supporting the move of administrative services online.

One of the main projects is Smart Gouv, whose second phase, running through 2026, plans several modernisation steps: rolling out online public services at scale, developing electronic management of documents and mail, strengthening archiving systems and upgrading the administration’s shared infrastructure. The programme also covers moving procedures online across several public sectors.

Still, the committee isn’t meant to replace any of this. Its role is more strategic: keeping an overview of initiatives, judging their results and making public decisions more consistent. The idea is better coordination between the administrations and the bodies running digital projects.

Keeping track of results 📈

The committee will be chaired by the head of state or a representative, and will bring together several public officials. They include Digital Transformation and Innovation Minister Mahuna Akplogan, the director general of ASIN, and the heads of public bodies working on digital investigations and cybersecurity.

Three figures recognised for their expertise may also be appointed to sit on it, for a three-year term renewable once.

To keep tabs on projects, the committee will meet every quarter. A permanent secretariat will maintain a dashboard of projects and reforms, based on information supplied by the bodies involved. Quarterly reports will also go to the head of state on how initiatives are progressing and what they have delivered.

AI on the watchlist 🤖

Beyond tracking investments, the decree also gives the committee a watching brief on emerging technologies, AI in particular. The aim is to follow technological shifts that could affect the country’s digital projects.

It will also monitor measures to protect critical digital infrastructure and sovereign data. Security and control over digital resources thus become part of how Benin steers its digital transformation.

With this new body, Benin adds another mechanism to assess what its digital investments deliver, coordinate public projects and follow the technology and security issues tied to modernising its administration. One question only practice will answer: will the evaluations and quarterly reports lead to corrections that citizens using public services can actually see?

Can this committee really improve oversight of tech investments and deliver better results for public services in Benin? Let us know in the comments.