Widely distributed in Europe, but of recent origin in Africa, the concept of delegated project management (MOD) introduced in the 1990s in Benin has capitalized invaluable assets and is known in particular through the executing agencies namely the AGETUR (Executing Agency for Urban Works), the AGETIP (Execution Agency for Works of Public Interest) and SERHAU (Regional Housing and Urban Planning Study Company).

The fundamental objectives that underpin the use of the MOD revolve around indicators such as the reduction of the deadlines for the execution of infrastructures, the improvement of the quality of the works, the lightening of the execution procedures, the more meaningful involvement of the private sector through optimal management of both human, financial and temporal resources.

Also factors include government commitment, donor support, fast and transparent procedures, rigorous monitoring and control system, development of national competence, agency management autonomy and motivation of staff are among the key elements of success.

However, progress is needed on monitoring the implementation by the State, in terms of the quality of work, studies, supervision, and strengthening the capacity of partner agencies.

The presentation will go from the conception of the MOD to its experimentation in Benin.

Origin and Creation

The 80 in Africa were those of structural adjustment programs that contributed to correcting the deep structural imbalances in particular by liberalizing public and parapublic sector. However, these measures have also occurs in the short-term negative social effects that one consequence is the sharp rise in unemployment, particularly in urban areas.

In the context of the work that was going on at the time, the cumbersomeness of the procurement and payment procedures was such that many companies and suppliers found no interest in responding to public tenders. Despite the advanced state of deterioration of most national infrastructures, the project implementation deadlines were very long (it can take a mere 5 to 8 years between the identification of a project and its actual start); the procurement procedures were also very poorly adapted to the construction sector's SME and the works were made up of such large batches that only large companies could participate in tenders.

Faced with this generalized situation, the World Bank has proposed the recourse to MOD. Thus, the first experiment started in Senegal in 1989. AGETIP Senegal was then created with as bases the use of the High Intensity of Labor (HIMO), the creation of jobs and the execution work with low technological intensity.

The second experience in Africa was the creation of AGETUR in October 1990, which meets the same objectives as AGETIP Senegal. In 1992, the creation of the Management Agency of the Social Dimension of Development (current AGETIP Benin) will follow very quickly. As for SERHAU SA, it was initially a public service, its transformation into a mixed economy company in March 1993 made it one of the executing agencies of the Rehabilitation and Decentralized Urban Management Project alongside AGETUR. It has benefited from the support of the State for its installation and from the World Bank for its operation.

It must be said that support for creation varies from one agency to another. For their creation, AGETUR and AGETIP have fortunately benefited from the consent of the Beninese State and from the sustained support of the donors, in this case the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program ( UNDP).

For its part, AGETUR benefited at its inception from the agreement to implement its first project through the remainder of a credit in water supply (credit 1721 / BEN granted by the World Bank), in operating costs covering a period of three months, and an installation subsidy.

With regard to AGETIP, it is the World Bank which, under the Emergency Program, has exclusively financed the implementation of the work to be carried out in MOD while the UNDP has financed the establishment of the Agency and its management costs for the work of the Program.

However, the most important support at the time of the creation of these agencies comes from the direct offer of the execution of works beyond the recourse to the delegation suggested by the donors as part of the implementation. several projects.