2023-12-19 10:19:23
The problem of combating illegal structures for collecting and investing money is at the heart of a training and information workshop for local elected officials, which was held in Zè on Friday December 15.
Belmondo ATIKPO
The National Agency for the Surveillance of Decentralized Financial Systems (ANSSFD) of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, in collaboration with the National Network of Mayors for the fight against illegal structures for collecting and investing money, initiated a meeting rich exchanges of information on the sanitation of the financial sector. This workshop which brought together local elected officials, administrative, religious and customary authorities of the commune of Zè aims to train them on their roles and responsibilities in the fight against illegal structures for collecting and investing money as well as as well as on the mechanisms and channels used by the promoters of illegal initiatives. The workshop was held in the presence of members of the Executive Bureau of the National Network of Mayors for the fight against illegal structures for collecting and investing money composed, among others, of the mayors of Ouidah, Kandi, Bassila, Gogounou, Djougou, Savè, Abomey, Ifangni, Dogbo, Grand-Popo.
At the opening of the awareness session, the mayor of Zè thanked the Minister of State for the Economy and Finance for having involved local elected officials and mayors in the fight against illegal microfinance initiatives. Amadé Moussa invited participants to pay particular attention to the discussions. “(…) This working session (…) will help build us up to better fight against counterfeiters who act in violation of the regulations in force,” explained the mayor.
For the mayor of the commune of Ouidah and president of the National Network of Mayors for the fight against illegal structures for collecting and investing money, the session is part of the “awareness and permanent monitoring actions undertaken with of all the communes of Benin”. The objective is to involve local authorities in the fight against the informal exercise of microfinance in Benin, specified Christian Mawugnon Houétchenou. “The Minister of State, Minister of Economy and Finance, through my voice, thanks you for having responded massively to this awareness session on the problem of cleaning up the financial sector in Benin. He welcomes this emerging partnership between his Ministry and the mayors of Benin in the sense of better inclusiveness of our populations and in the sense of better protection of the savings of our fellow citizens,” indicated Abdou Rafiou Bello, the Director General of the National Agency for the Supervision of Decentralized Financial Systems (ANSSFD), in his words to the participants. Illegal microfinance activities are on the decline thanks to government actions. More than 400 illegal initiatives were identified between 2011 and 2012, rising to around thirty in 2019 when the census resumed. But illegal initiatives take more insidious forms, notably through new technologies and also the tontine phenomenon. It is to deal with the situation that the Ministry of Economy and Finance decided to involve local elected officials, according to the explanations of the director general of the National Agency for the Surveillance of Decentralized Financial Systems (ANSSFD). “It is important that certain people be the spokespersons of the administration to give the right information, (…) raise awareness about good practices (…) draw attention to the bad ones,” indicated Abdou Rafiou Bello. The DG ANSSFD specifies that “local elected officials must intervene at three levels: communication, awareness-raising and denunciation”. The communication presented to the participants focused on these three levels. According to the communication, “local elected officials must not set themselves up as financial intermediaries, nor as heads of microfinance institutions in the field”. The National Network of Mayors for the fight against illegal structures for collecting and investing money was created following the workshop held at the Palais des Congrès in Cotonou on August 17 and 18, 2023. The workshop brought together 64 mayors. An Executive Bureau of 15 members was set up. 3 mayors coordinate the Office and each of the twelve others coordinates a department. Its objective is to set up communication, information and surveillance networks throughout the territory.
QA December 19, 2023
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