To reiterate, for any real and sustained progress in Africa’s film, television, and digital media sectors to take shape at the continental level, participation from smaller, less established, and historically quieter markets will be essential.
On 22 October 2025, the Government of Benin, meeting in the Council of Ministers under President Patrice Talon, approved the transmission to the National Assembly of a draft law on the cinema and animated-image industry for examination and vote, according to the official communiqué of the Secretariat General of the Government (SGG). [Compte rendu du Conseil des Ministres, 22 Oct 2025]
The measure updates the legal foundation of Benin’s cinema sector for the first time in more than sixty years!
The government’s decision follows recent steps to build Benin’s film and television capacity, including the creation of a state-owned production company, the Société de Production Audiovisuelle (SOPA S.A.), which is developing a new national studio complex in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and main commercial center, and the expansion of the Rencontres Cinématographiques et Numériques de Cotonou, known as ReCiCo, a film and digital-media festival that now serves as Benin’s main professional gathering for producers, filmmakers, and trainees.
The country’s existing cinema law, Law No. 60-15 of 30 June 1960, was enacted while Benin was still the French colony of Dahomey. It was written and adopted under colonial administration, less than two months before independence on 1 August 1960. The statute defined film as a public entertainment activity subject to state control. It established procedures for film exhibition licenses and censorship, but did not recognize filmmaking as a national industry.
The law contained no provisions for Beninese-owned production companies, because none were legally acknowledged at that time. All cinema operations were managed or authorized by colonial offices and foreign distributors. There were no mechanisms for private or domestic investment in film production; budgets for screening and exhibition depended on outside players and government permits. The law also pre-dated the introduction of video, digital recording, and satellite broadcasting, technologies that now define the global audiovisual sector.
As a result, since independence, Benin’s film workers have continued to operate under rules written for an era when filmmaking in the country was limited to foreign newsreels and occasional imported films. The new draft law is the first legislative attempt to replace that colonial-era statute with contemporary regulations governing production, financing, distribution, and public exhibition of film within Benin.
Government officials describe the legislation as part of a national effort to build a functioning cultural economy. It defines film and animation as “professional fields,” not informal creative work. Production companies and workers will have to register and operate under recognized business standards. It also authorizes public financial support for local production via subsidies, tax relief, or co-investment, to help reduce dependence on foreign partners.
The draft law includes a legal requirement that states every finished film, series, or animation produced in Benin will be archived by a designated public authority. This creates an official record of national production and secures the intellectual property of creators. For the first time, Benin’s film output will be systematically preserved rather than scattered or lost entirely. For professionals like myself, this helps resolve a long-standing documentation gap (at least in Benin) that has made accurate industry record-keeping and rights verification difficult for decades.
If adopted, the law will replace the 1960 statute in its entirety. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Arts will then issue the detailed rules that determine how funding programs and archives operate, and how professionals obtain their licenses. Because the bill has already been endorsed by the president and cabinet and because Benin’s National Assembly usually approves draft laws proposed by the executive branch, it is very likely to be adopted.
Regional Context and Outlook
Increasingly, African governments are writing film, television, and digital media into their national development agendas. That much should be clear to readers of my work on this platform. The pace and scale differ, but in recent years, countries that have been historically absent from African screen activity — often smaller markets with limited or no infrastructure — have started to build local capacity and share their progress publicly.
That visibility makes it easier to document real movement. Botswana is one very recent example I captured; Benin is now another. Sustained progress across the continent will depend on how these less-established industries continue to grow and participate.
For exclusive insights into the tectonic media shifts happening across the continent, and more African screen sector intelligence you won’t read (or listen to) anywhere else, subscribe to Akoroko Premium: https://akoroko.com/localpricing/
7-day FREE trial + localized pricing.