The total number of registered businesses of all types in Benin recorded a drop of 5.6% in April 2020 compared to the previous month, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis (INSAE) on the basis of data collected by the General Directorate of Taxes.

These companies are estimated at 2,056 (raw data) and 2,249 after 2,382 in March 2020 in corrected data
seasonal variations (CVS). Over the last three months, business registrations have remained virtually stable (+0.9%). On the other hand, compared to the same month of 2019, business registrations fell sharply by 37.2%.

“Over the last twelve months (month of April 2020 included), notes INSAE, registrations have gone from 3,810 in May 2019 (peak recorded over the period) to 2,056 in April 2020 (raw data), after having reached its minimum level in December 2019 (established at 1,555), i.e. an average of 2,504 companies registered per month”.

With regard more specifically to company registrations, INSAE notes a sharp drop. During the period under review, the total number of registered sole proprietorships is estimated at 1,817 (raw data) and 1,996 in CVS data compared to 2,124 (raw data) and 2,075 in CVS data in March 2020.

As for the companies, they amount to 239 in raw data and 253 in CVS data against 361 in raw data and 307 in CVS data.

According to INSAE, "the weight of sole proprietorships in all business creations (CVS data) increased by 1.6 percentage points, while that of companies fell by 1.6 points compared to the last month ". Company creations collapsed (–17.7%) after the drop recorded in March 2020 (-6.0%). In addition, after the 2.6% drop recorded between February and March 2020, registrations of sole proprietorships fell back in April by 3.8%.

Over the last three months, the number of companies created is down sharply (-28.0%) unlike sole proprietorships which are up 6.3%.

Compared to April 2019, registrations of all legal forms of business are down 38.1% for sole proprietorships and 27.67% for companies.

During the month of April 2020, eight nationalities of business promoters were registered in Benin. “Of the 2,056 registered companies, reports INSAE, 2,001 were created by Beninese, or 97.3% of all promoters”. This proportion is almost stable compared to March 2020. After the Beninese, come promoters of Nigerian, Togolese, Gabonese, Malian, Ivorian, Nigerien and Guinean nationalities, who represent 0.7% of all entrepreneurs.