BENIN Country Profile

Land Administration

Business Corruption

Access to industrial terrain is difficult and constitutes a major constraint for both domestic and foreign companies. Alongside the difficulties in obtaining land there are also the very high administrative costs related to the purchase and registration of property which in turn gives rise to a series of informal payments. According to the US Department of State 2009, land tenure remains a complicated question in many areas and it is often difficult to transfer clear title to real property, while property rights are not adequately safeguarded largely because of inefficient and corrupt aspects in Benin's judiciary.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- It takes an average of 4 procedures and 120 days to register property in Benin at a cost of nearly 12% of the property's value.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the protection of property rights in Benin, including financial assets, a score of 3.8 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very weak' and 7 'very strong').