VZCZCXRO8893
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #0267 1761059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251059Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0985
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1473
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0447

UNCLAS COTONOU 000267 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W ACOOK 
LONDON FOR PETER LORD 
PARIS FOR BKANEDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: BIOGRAPHIC NOTE ON THE NEW MINISTER OF ECONOMY AND 
FINANCE 
 
REF: COTONOU 254 
 
¶1.  Per Reftel, this cable provides further biographic details on 
Idriss Liassou Daouda, the newly appointed Minister of Economy and 
Finance. 
 
¶2. From 2007, until his appointment as Minister of Economy and 
Finance, Idriss Liassou Daouda, served on the Presidential Council 
for Investment and was Advisor for Benin's Transitional Postal and 
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, both chaired by President 
Yayi. He was also Financial Advisor to President Yayi. 
 
¶3. Daouda started his career in 1977 as a young banker at the 
Central Bank of West African States' (BCEAO) Headquarters, in Dakar, 
Senegal, where he gradually held leading positions including Head of 
the Treasury Division, Head of the Issuance Division and Senior 
Economist. From 1996 to 1998 he was the Head of the Main Agency of 
the BCEAO in Cotonou. In 1998, he was appointed National Director 
for this bank until his retirement in 2006.  He also served in 2006 
as Governor Alternate on the IMF Board of Governors. 
 
¶4. Daouda sits on several financial institutions' Boards of 
Directors including the National Commission on Debts (CNE), the 
National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis (INSAE), the 
Autonomous Redemption Fund (CAA) and the National Security Fund for 
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (FONAGA). Together with the West 
African Development Bank (BOAD), Investment and Community 
Development Bank (BIDC) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated 
(ETI), Daouda established, a company devoted to the creation of a 
regional airline company (ASKY). He holds a four-year Degree 
(Maitrise) in Management from the University of Paris IV Dauphine, 
and postgraduate degrees in Business Management and Finance, 
respectively. He is about sixty and is divorced. 
 
¶5. The new Minister of Economy and Finance is said to possess good 
managerial and organizational skills.  He is depicted as a man of 
method, a discrete and rigorous banker whose areas of expertise 
cover economic, monetary, and financial issues as well as banking. 
On June 18, 2009, at the official handover ceremony in Cotonou, 
Daouda committed himself to increasing Benin's economic performance 
by reducing exceptional public expenditure; improving the 
computerized management of government spending; developing a 
one-stop businesses licensing project; and fostering 
results-oriented financial management. 
 
¶6. COMMENT: As a technical appointee, Daouda will perform well if he 
does not give in to the lure of politicians.  He has no political 
affiliation so far. If he chooses to enter politics, it might 
distract him from efficiently carrying out his responsibilities, 
which may lead him to commit professional blunders like his 
predecessor (Reftel).  However, to avoid possible conflicts of 
interests while holding his current office, and a point in his 
favor, he reportedly resigned from the financial institutions where 
he was on the Boards of Directors. END OF COMMENT 
 
RAWLINGS