Benin

Benin was one of the first countries in the region with environmental codes that contained E(S)IA provisions. The decree of 2001 firstly defined the ESIA procedures and introduced SEA in the legislation. The Agence Béninoise pour l’Environnement (ABE), the current ESIA agency, had been established even earlier. A rather complete body of legal texts and manuals was in place, and ESIA (for private sector investments) became a widely accepted practice. Around 2010, however, the ESIA system was losing strength: funding for ABE decreased, while simultaneously political leadership seemed to have lost its attention for ESIA.

In May 2015, the Council of Ministers of Benin approved an updated Decree on Environmental Assessment. In 2017, a renewed decree on Environmental Assessment procedures was published.