AI regulation in Benin (2026)

The Council of Ministers approved the SNIAM on 18 January 2023, led by the Ministry of Digitalisation. It sets four strategic programs covering AI solution deployment, capacity building, research and innovation support, and governance, with 123 actions across three implementation phases.

The strategy targets AI deployment in education, health, agriculture, public services, and tourism, positioning Benin — ranked 3rd in West Africa in AI readiness by Oxford Insights — as a regional AI leader by 2027.

The SNIAM's governance programme includes an explicit action to adopt legislation regulating AI ethics and liability, meaning binding AI law is planned but had not been enacted as of mid-2026. Annual evaluation mechanisms and accountability structures are specified in the strategy.

The underlying digital legal framework is Law N°2017-20 (Code du Numérique, promulgated 2018, amended 2020). In 2025 the government adopted eight new implementing decrees covering e-archiving and e-identification, but none specific to AI.

The telecoms regulator ARCEP-Bénin has announced prospective reflections on AI and IoT regulatory challenges as part of its 2026 work programme, but no binding AI rules have been issued by ARCEP to date.

Benin participates in the African Union Continental AI Strategy (2025–2030), with Phase 1 (2025–2026) focused on establishing national governance structures. Benin's SNIAM is cited by the AU as one of the member-state strategies aligning with this continental framework.