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Good practice Imported

Benin's Startup Act — The First National Startup-Labelling Cohort

Benin · Cotonou · See the Benin profile · See the Cotonou profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 93% 43/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Benin's 2023 Startup Act produced its first labelled cohort in May 2025: 15 MSMEs chosen from 95 applicants gain a three-year tax holiday, via a national technical committee modelled on Senegal, Rwanda and Tunisia's startup-act laws.

95
Applications received (Dec 2024)
15
Firms labelled 'startup' (9 May 2025)
Benin's Startup Act — The First National Startup-Labelling Cohort

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Ministry of Digital Economy and Digitalization, Republic of Benin (Technical Labelling Committee)
Period
2023–2025 (Decree 2023-095; first labelling round Dec 2024–May 2025)
Keywords
digital economy, entrepreneurship policy, SME support, startup regulation

Context

Decree No. 2023-095 created Benin's national 'startup' label, administered by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Digitalization through a seven-member Technical Labelling Committee installed in June 2024.

Results

The inaugural call for applications ran 2-12 December 2024 and drew 95 applications; 20 were judged administratively complete, and after evaluation the committee labelled 15 MSMEs on 9 May 2025, each holding 'startup' status for three years. Labelled firms are exempted from corporate income tax and employer payroll contributions for their first two years, with a 50% reduction in the third year.

Conclusions

Government and independent Beninese media report matching application figures, but neither has yet published outcome data -- survival rates, revenue growth or jobs created -- for the 15 labelled firms. Benin's government frames the law as following the startup-act precedents already running in Senegal, Rwanda and Tunisia.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Cost carried as forgone tax/payroll revenue during the two-to-three-year exemption window.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Decree March 2023; first labelling round completed May 2025.
Staffing & skills
Ministry of Digital Economy and Digitalization, seven-member Technical Labelling Committee

Conditions for success

  • standing decree-based legal basis
  • tax and payroll-contribution exemptions for labelled firms

Common failure modes

  • no post-award outcome data published since the labelling ceremony

Where it fits

Governance type
national government
Scale
national
Income level
lower-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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Attachments

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