The African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), a pan-African institution that provides political, investment and commercial risk insurance products, has expressed its commitment to assist the Republic of Benin to achieve its Vision 2030 goals by attracting US$15 billion of investments by 2021.
This disclosure was made in a press statement made available to CEOAfrica by the Media Contact of ATI, Sherry Kennedy, adding that the ATI is building a partnership based on trust with the government of the Benin Republic.
According to the statement, the President of Benin Republic, His Excellency, Patrice Talon, last week, launched a five-year program that is aligned to Benin’s Vision 2030 that places Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) at the core and the program sets out a strategy to attract US$15 billion of investments and to stimulate growth from the bottom up by 2021.
In a show of support, the CEO of ATI, George Otieno, met with the President ahead of the Government’s five-year action plan to discuss concrete ways that agency could help Benin achieve its ambitions, which involves exploiting an estimated US$760 million worth of investments in ATI’s current project pipeline. These include renewable energy, manufacturing, agribusiness, investments that will help finance small and-medium sized (SMEs) companies, and supporting the government’s proposed bond issue.
During the meeting, Mr Otieno said “We came to Benin to lend our support. The relationship ATI has with its government stakeholders is by far our most valuable asset. Listening to our countries is an important part of building a partnership based on trust. As a result, we walked away from the meeting with the President confident that we had a way forward in working together to help build the country.”
Mr Otieno added that “As an African institution, ATI understands the challenging environment in which many of our governments work. This is where we can add the most value because we understand the risks involved and how to mitigate them. Benin is no different. We’re here to help by providing comfort to investors.”
Spurred by indicators that show 40% of the population living below the poverty line and Benin ranked 166th out of 177 in the human development index, the President is focused on crowding in the private sector to create beneficial PPPs. To attract investors, he is also focused on creating an open and transparent system of governance.
In a statement made shortly after his nomination, the President noted that it was a matter of urgency that they tackle political reforms, restructuring of the national economy and strengthening the social fibre in order to restore public confidence and the country’s credibility.
