Honored again by the World Bank through its index of assessment of transparency in public debt management in countries eligible for IDA financing, Benin is in the spotlight. Responding to the many questions on the subject, the Beninese Minister of Economy and Finance, Romuald Wadagni, is precise in his answers: "Benin had the maximum score, to make it simpler, say 20/20, for 7 of the 9 criteria evaluated; which propels it to the top of this ranking for all 76 countries assessed at the global level".
Such a triumph is not without raising questions both from other African countries and from within Benin itself, where the opposition rightly and wrongly raises the spectre of a risk of massive indebtedness.

Needless to say, this distinction of the Bretton Wood institutions is part of a kind of logical follow-up. Already in October 2019, Benin obtained recognition for the good quality of public debt management, through the 2019 Global Markets Award for "Best Sovereign Debt Manager in Sub-Saharan Africa", which was awarded to the country on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "All these distinctions confirm the meticulous work we do to put the debt at the service of the development of our country," recalls the minister who nevertheless knows, better than anyone, that the immediate expectations of the Beninese populations in particular and African in general relate to the creation of jobs and the improvement of a daily life. weighed down by the uncertainties of COVID-19.
Also, the passage of the country of Patrice Talon in the sought-after category of middle-income countries (PRI), a historic event, should, to materialize, be felt in the daily life of the ordinary Beninese.
On the question of debt risk, Wadagni's answer is obvious:

"When it comes to debt, we have to ask ourselves simple questions like: What do we want to do with debt? What is the interest to be paid (the cost of debt)? How long is it for a refund? Is this repayment period compatible with what the money will be used to do?

On what the debt is going to do, it is imperative that the debt be used to do something tangible. And the financier concludes that to date, all the analyses of the World Bank and the IMF show that Benin's debt is sustainable.

However, says the minister, "we must not be satisfied with these glowing results in terms of debt. We will maintain rigour and transparency in debt management for even greater results."