Benin: the Register of Associations and Foundations takes effect on December 19

The announcement was made on December 18 through a press release broadcast on the national radio and television networks.

Provided for by Law No. 2025-19 of July 22, 2025 and governed by Decree No. 2025-575 of September 24, 2025, this register now becomes the sole legal mechanism for declaring, registering, and monitoring associations, foundations, and non-governmental organizations in Benin.

The scope is broad. It applies to all associations, including those with a religious or mutualist character, as well as foundations and NGOs, whether governed by national or foreign law, regardless of their date of establishment.

By contrast, political parties, trade unions, and structures under traditional chieftaincy are not subject to this obligation.

From now on, any creation of an association or foundation, as well as any statutory or administrative amendment, must be declared exclusively online via the national public services portal, available at www.service-public.bj.

Validated information is then published in the Journal of the Register of Associations and Foundations, which can be consulted only on the Ministry of the Interior’s website, www.interieur.gouv.bj, where the fees associated with the various formalities are also listed.

Through this reform, the authorities intend to modernize the management of the associative sector by relying on the digitalization of procedures and better visibility for legally established organizations within the national territory.