The agency is created to improve the coherence of digital transformation projects ongoing in the country. The decision will help optimize resource utilization, they hope. 

The Republic of Benin officially created, Wednesday (June 1), its national information technology development agency. The new agency, called ASIN -Agence des systèmes d’information et du numérique- is the result of the merger of four dedicated agencies. Those agencies are namely the digital development agency ADN, the information systems agency ASSI, the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI, and the Universal Service of Electronic Communications and Post (ABSU-CEP). 

According to the government, the agencies were merged to answer optimization needs, in preparation for the operationalization of Société béninoise d’infrastructures numériques -the national digital infrastructure management firm-for improved efficiency,  and for more rationality and coherence in state actions.  

ASIN will pursue the actions carried out by its predecessors since its creation in 2016. It will notably implement digital projects like broadband and ultra-wideband deployment, dematerialization, cybersecurity, network extension, and the development of internet adoption in rural areas.  

Placed under the dual supervision of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitization and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, ASIN will be headed by André Loko (photo). Its board chairman is Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni. 

Ruben Tchounyabe