Feasibility study for the design of an integrated human resources management system and the strengthening of the public finance system

Full description of the project

Benin’s civil service is estimated at 70 000 employees, divided between permanent state employees (APE) and contractual state employees (ACE). The wage bill represents 7.3% of GDP, one of the highest rates in the WAEMU.

The observations concerning the dysfunctions of the civil service, which affect the functioning of the administration, are shared by the various administrations we met: The regulatory and legislative framework is incomplete and not necessarily adapted to Beninese realities, the ethical framework has deteriorated, the number of staff is inadequate to meet needs, there are no managerial functions, making it necessary for a few people to carry out design, steering and coordination tasks, and the system of evaluation and career advancement is not based on the performance and skills of staff, An inadequate remuneration system, non-transparent recruitment mechanisms, a lack of forward-looking human resources management, initial and continuous training mechanisms that could be strengthened by better recognition of training leading to qualifications (as opposed to diplomas) and a better match with the needs of the administration.

Overall objectives

This mission aims to cover the other areas of the redesign of the public finance information system in order to produce reliable information in a timely manner and at reasonable costs. It will enhance the transparency and efficiency of public finance and human resources management, in particular in the following areas

• Management of the State’s human resources ;
• Dematerialization of Treasury operations;
• Implementation of a centralized database of public finance statistics;
• State asset accounting;
• Accounting according to the budgetary nomenclature of EPAs and public enterprises;

Specific objectives

Assess the progress made in human resources management within the Beninese administration over the last five years, identify the challenges of the reform to be put in place, and the possible design of an information and management system for state human resources. According to the priorities, a tender dossier will be drawn up, i.e:

• Enable Benin to have a reliable and coherent system for regularising wages paid without prior authorisation
• Put in place procedures to ensure that updated data is taken into account without delay from a clean and secure payroll file that can ensure the production of reliable forecasts of the wage bill for a given period;
• Propose an effective human resources management system that will allow progress in the modern management of civil servants’ careers
• Efficiently manage expense claims for official state missions;
• To carry out an audit of the implementation procedures, of the dematerialization activities in progress or planned, in particular at the level of the Treasury, to formulate the modernization solutions for the areas concerned and the implementation strategy for the proposed solutions and finally, to draw up a tender dossier in accordance with the government’s priorities;
• Carry out an inventory of existing databases with a view to the future design of a single public finance database capable of providing the necessary resources for public finance information and management systems. Depending on the priorities, a tender document will be developed;
• To carry out an inventory of the implementation of material accounting in the structures of the State and local authorities in accordance with the main international standards and directives in the field of accounting, auditing and control of public finances, and to propose an organization that complies with or is very close to the international principles of material accounting. According to the priorities, a tender file will be established;
• Take stock of the transition from the traditional SYSCOHADA accounting system to the accounting system according to the State budget nomenclature. As in 2013, a transition matrix between the EPAs’ chart of accounts and that of the State budget nomenclature according to the new decree on the general rules of State accounting could be envisaged, but such a solution would be temporary. The implementation of software for the preparation of accounts according to the State budget nomenclature could be envisaged.