The Beninese government has initiated a national prize aimed at promoting administrative simplification. The "Prix national de la simplification administrative" was presented by Minister Delegate for Budget and Public Service Rodrigue Chaou and Government Spokesperson Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji on October 28, 2026, in Cotonou. This prize seeks to stimulate innovation in simplifying administrative procedures, making them faster, less costly, and more accessible to citizens.
The prize is open to two main categories of participants: public administration agents and citizens, including socio-economic actors. Public administration agents can propose solutions based on their knowledge of procedures, while citizens, including students, workers, enterprises, associations, and civil society organizations, can also participate. Participants can submit proposals through a dedicated platform from October 29 to November 12, 2026.
The prize concerns all areas of public administration and services, not just those provided by ministries. Proposals can focus on reducing processing times, limiting displacements, dematerializing procedures, automating processes, or sharing information between administrations to avoid requesting the same documents multiple times. The goal is to emerge with concrete solutions to reduce administrative hurdles and improve public service quality.
A multidisciplinary jury will evaluate the proposals based on several criteria, including the pertinence of the identified problem, the innovative nature of the solution, and its expected impact on users and administration. The jury will also assess the feasibility of the proposal and its potential for generalization to other services or administrations.
The best proposals will be rewarded with a trophy or official certificate, institutional recognition, and support for implementing their solution. The prize pool is 40 million FCFA, with specific categories including the Agent Public Prize, Citizen Prize, Enterprise/Organization Prize, Innovation numérique Prize, and the Grand Prix national de la simplification administrative.
The prize aims to create a national pool of administrative simplification solutions. The most relevant proposals will undergo a feasibility analysis and may be experimented with and implemented with competent administrations. This initiative is expected to bring concrete improvements to public service functioning and reduce constraints related to administrative procedures.
The government encourages citizens to participate, emphasizing that it is simple to do so and that no prior knowledge of administration functioning is required. Proposals should describe the procedure, the difficulty encountered, and the proposed solution. The government publication dated October 12, 2026, highlights the importance of this initiative in promoting a culture of innovation and simplification in public administration.
Key points
- The prize pool is 40 million FCFA.
- Proposals can be submitted through a dedicated platform from October 29 to November 12, 2026.
- The prize concerns all areas of public administration and services, not just those provided by ministries.
