CHAPTER FOUR: ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT __________________________________________________________________________ president of the republic, to institutionalise permanent dialogue in the form of ‘concerted governance’ will solve this problem and pave the way for building consensus around economic and social policies. 428. Another challenge in the GGE concerns the weight and place of the informal sector in Benin’s economy and society. This sector is recognised as playing an important role. Estimates of its importance vary, but all confirm its importance in the economy, in employment, in the mobilisation of savings, in investment, in social peace, and so on. The sector is, therefore, important at the economic, social and even political level. Implementers of the country’s economic policies tend to have an attitude of acting as ‘fiscal police’ towards this important sector, and thus seek to ‘formalise’ policy forcefully. It is necessary to develop a constructive policy that meets the needs of this sector and makes it a partner in the effort to build the Benin of tomorrow. The objective should be to study constructive ways and means of involving the informal sector in the development of economic policies, as it is obvious that the sector will not disappear soon. In the meantime, the major economic efforts are leading to marginalisation, exclusion and the development of survivalist activities in this sector. 429. The effective implementation of sound, transparent and predictable economic policies also requires state machinery with sufficient institutional capacity to build the ‘emerging Benin’ of 2025. Apart from the problems of human, technical, material and organisational capacities, there is also the problem of the level of commitment and functional efficiency of this machinery for it really to become a ‘development administration’ capable of conducting and implementing appropriate economic policies for constructing the ‘emerging Benin’. Box 4.3: Emerging Benin: an original vision ‘Emerging Benin’ is an economic vision organised around the acceleration of economic growth and equitable redistribution of its fruits in order to reduce poverty by 2011 substantially. This ambition is based mainly on six strategic development orientations. These are analysed in detail in the GPRS document for the period 2007-2009. The document is followed by a priority action programme for the same period. The originality of the ‘emerging Benin’ vision lies in the coherence of these documents and in the innovative nature of the GPRS. Beyond the desire to restore major macroeconomic balances – common to poverty reduction strategy papers in many developing countries – the Benin GPRS addresses longterm planning issues that indicate that the spirit of Alafia Bénin 2025 and of wealth creation continues. This constitutes a good practice. It should be noted, however, that the lack of quantified data in the analysis preceding the presentation of the strategic development orientations will interrupt the smooth implementation of the plans. Here is an illustration. In order to support the health sector, which is essential for economic growth, it is important to estimate the number of doctors and hospitals that will be needed. It is also important to know how many doctors and hospitals the country had at the time of the analysis. Hence, the quantified gap between the two should gradually be filled before the end of the period specified. Projections such as these will minimise ad hoc recruitments and reduce difficulties in aligning budgets with the objectives of the different ministries. They will also give clear ideas of the financial resources that will be 155