GIZ Benin

About us

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been supporting Benin on behalf of the German Federal Government since 1978. GIZ is active across the country, in all 12 departments. Since 1992, the GIZ office has been steering these activities centrally from Cotonou.
In public administration, budgetary planning is still insufficiently developed at both national and local level. Climate change is having a detrimental impact on ecosystems and on natural resources such as water. Thirty per cent of Benin’s population do not have access to clean drinking water, for example. Moreover, the majority of people work in agriculture, where wages are low.
In Benin, GIZ primarily works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), focusing on the following priority areas:
-  Good governance
-  Protecting life on Earth – the environment and natural resources
-  Training and sustainable growth for decent jobs
To protect the livelihoods of the population, one of the aims is to improve the management of water resources. At the same time, GIZ supports increasing access to clean and affordable drinking water. In addition, sustainable management of protected areas in the north of the country is intended to conserve biodiversity in the region.