• Benin proposes $48M 2026 digital budget, down 6.3% from 2025

• Funds target AI integration, broadband expansion, and media modernization

• Plans include digital skills training and SMART GOUV administrative platform rollout
  

Benin's Minister of Digitalization and Digital Affairs, Aurélie Adam Soulé Zoumarou, presented a draft budget of 27.2 billion CFA francs ($48 million) for 2026 to the National Assembly's budget commission on Tuesday.

The proposed amount represents a 6.32% decrease from the 29.034 billion CFA francs allocated in 2025.

The 2026 budget forecasts include operational expenses of 9.7 billion CFA francs and capital expenditures of 17.4 billion CFA francs. The budget is divided across three main programs. The "Steering and Support" program is allocated 2.1 billion CFA francs to improve the performance of the ministry's services and support the digital, digitalization, and media sectors. The "Digital" program, endowed with 12.3 billion CFA francs, aims to promote digital transformation. The "Media" program, with an allocation of 12.6 billion CFA francs, aims to modernize the audiovisual landscape and the press, facilitate citizen access to quality information, modernize public media, and continue the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) project.

Several strategic projects are highlighted, including the gradual integration of artificial intelligence in administrations and priority sectors. Reducing the digital divide remains a central focus, with the continuation of initiatives to ensure broadband coverage across the entire territory. The plan also includes strengthening access to equipment and supporting skills development for the population.

The project also involves structuring the School of Digital Professions, intended to train specialized profiles such as developers, network administrators, cybersecurity experts, and data analysts to support the emergence of a skilled and competitive workforce.

These projects will complement several others carried out during the year, including the deployment of high-speed and very-high-speed broadband nationwide (phase 2), the launch of the SMART GOUV initiative for the digitalization of the administration, and the digital transformation of local authorities. According to a GSMA report, the digital economy supported by mobile telephony and digital services could generate an additional 1,200 billion CFA francs for Benin's GDP by 2028, create more than 300,000 jobs, and increase tax revenues by 150 billion CFA francs.

Samira Njoya