{"id":1659,"date":"2026-08-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/camec-arbitrage-mediation-litiges-benin\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T15:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:06:41","slug":"camec-arbitrage-mediation-litiges-benin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/camec-arbitrage-mediation-litiges-benin\/","title":{"rendered":"CAMeC: when Beninese entrepreneurs settle their disputes differently"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A commercial dispute is not always settled in court. Since 2003, CCI B\u00e9nin has had a Centre for Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation (CAMeC), thoroughly reorganised by a decree of June 2018 to make it a benchmark for dispute resolution in the region.<\/p>\n<p>For an SME, the stakes are rarely theoretical. A customer who does not pay, a supplier who delivers late, a partner who disputes the profit split: these situations put cash flow, and therefore the company\u2019s survival, at risk. Yet conventional court proceedings take years, absorb management time and expose the company\u2019s affairs publicly. Many entrepreneurs simply give up asserting their rights \u2014 which amounts to financing the other party\u2019s default.<\/p>\n<h2>Three ways to settle, one shared goal<\/h2>\n<p>CAMeC offers traders, manufacturers and business people three distinct instruments. First,<strong>arbitration<\/strong>: one or more arbitrators decide the dispute on the basis of a private agreement, and their award is binding. Then <strong>mediation<\/strong>: a neutral third party helps the parties reach an agreement themselves, without imposing a solution. And finally <strong>conciliation<\/strong>, in a similar spirit, with a conciliator who can propose the terms of a settlement.<\/p>\n<p>The practical difference is essential: arbitration decides, mediation brings together. When the business relationship deserves to be preserved \u2014 a strategic supplier, a long-standing distributor, a partner you must keep working with \u2014 mediation is almost always preferable. When the relationship has broken down and an enforceable decision is needed, arbitration is the right tool.<\/p>\n<p>The whole scheme has a clear goal: to offer faster, more flexible justice better suited to the nature of commercial disputes, while securing the investments of the parties involved.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Confidential proceedings<\/strong>, unlike the public hearings of ordinary courts \u2014 a decisive point when the dispute concerns margins, customers or know-how.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shorter timeframes and final<\/strong> decisions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Competitive fees<\/strong> : since the 2019-2020 reform, any mediation dispute involving less than ten million FCFA is free of charge.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A list of approved mediators, conciliators and arbitrators<\/strong> made available to the parties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The clause that changes everything, and must be written before the conflict<\/h2>\n<p>The point entrepreneurs rarely remember is this: recourse to CAMeC is prepared when the contract is signed, not when the disagreement arises. Arbitration rests on an agreement between the parties. Without an arbitration clause in the contract, you will need the other party\u2019s consent once the dispute has arisen \u2014 consent they usually have no interest in giving.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, this means that one line added to your terms and conditions and framework contracts is worth, when the day comes, several months of proceedings saved. It is one of the rare legal decisions that costs nothing at signature and can bring considerable benefit.<\/p>\n<p>For diaspora entrepreneurs and their foreign partners, the benefit is even clearer. Arbitration is the most widely recognised method of dispute resolution internationally, and it avoids having to settle the always delicate question of which court has jurisdiction when the parties live in two different countries.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ak-encadre ak-encadre--retenir\">\n<h3>Key takeaways<\/h3>\n<p>For a Beninese or diaspora entrepreneur in a business relationship, inserting a CAMeC clause in commercial contracts can provide valuable legal security, at a cost far lower than conventional court proceedings. Do it from the first contract: the clause costs nothing until it is needed, and is worth a great deal the day it is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"ak-note-fine\"><strong>Sources:<\/strong> CCI B\u00e9nin, Arbitration and Mediation department \u00b7 commerce.gouv.bj \u00b7 Decree of June 2018 reorganising CAMeC.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arbitrage, m\u00e9diation, conciliation : le centre de la CCI B\u00e9nin offre aux entreprises une alternative rapide et confidentielle \u00e0 la justice ordinaire.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"secteur_activite":[103],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nouvelles","secteur_activite-services-aux-entreprises"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1702,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions\/1702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"secteur_activite","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akeda.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/secteur_activite?post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}