Each year, more than 100,000 new jobseekers enter the already saturated job market. In Benin, 70 percent of people between 15 and 29 years old are underemployed, and this age group accounts for approximately 60 percent of the active population.
In response UNDP and the Government of Benin have implemented two projects. Business Promotion Centres (BPCs) train and advise young entrepreneurs on starting their own businesses and participating in job-creating and income-generating activities, while the project to promote agricultural entrepreneurship introduces young people to organic farming, agri-food processing and the management of natural resources.
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After training for six months at the Centre for the Promotion of Songhai Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Kétou, Amos Adebiaye was able to launch his own business. Using funds provided by the project and his own modest savings, he established a soap-making business. His moringa-based soap bars are highly esteemed on the local market for their therapeutic properties, and Amos hopes soon to expand his business with a loan he is expecting to receive from a financial institution.
Noël Bonu is engaged in the processing of palm nuts. With 4 million CFA francs (about US$6,700) provided by the National Fund for the Promotion of Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, he has purchased processing equipment and built a building for his company. With a processing capacity of 11 tonnes of palm nuts per week, or 2,200 litres of palm oil, he generates a profit of 320,000 CFA francs (approximately $540) per week.
There are currently nine Business Promotion Centres located in the main cities of Benin. These BPCs have touched the lives of more than 100,000 people, of which approximately 9,000 young people have received training in various entrepreneurship modules. From among the 35,000 small business developers to have received assistance (including 7,000 women), more than 1,000 business plans have been drafted, of which about 300 are already funded.
“Benin‘s population will reach 40 million by 2034. It will be necessary to intensify agricultural production to feed the population,“ — Marcel A. De Souza, former Development Minister.
For agricultural entrepreneurs like Ernest Hounvenou (a graduate in business information technology), the project’s three agricultural and training sites also serve as business incubators. They help young people who want to start businesses gain access to land, seeds and tools, and a partnership with the BPCs supports them in their efforts to obtain funding. Nearly 50 percent of the 800 young businessmen and businesswomen trained have already launched their own firms.
As for Ernest, he has chosen to settle in Kraké, 2 km from the Benin-Nigeria border. He has no problems finding a market for his products with ample customers coming from Nigeria.
The Centre for the Promotion of Songhai Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Zagnanado, is one of three centres set up to nurture young agricultural entrepreneurs. Covering an area of 95 hectares, the centre offers programmes in fish farming, pig and chicken rearing and vegetable and rice production.
The objective is to make the agricultural sector more attractive for young people and to address the challenges of unemployment and food insecurity and the exodus of young people from rural areas.
“The efforts of thousands of agricultural entrepreneurs will start the green revolution in Benin.” — Odile Sorgho-Moulinier, UNDP cting Resident Representative in Benin.
© 2026 United Nations Development Programme
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