Thione Niang teams up with Emmanuel Adebayor to build an agripreneurship institute in Togo

Agriculture

Wednesday, 20 April 2022 17:07

Thione Niang teams up with Emmanuel Adebayor to build an agripreneurship institute in Togo

(Togo First) - Togo will be the second country to house Thione Niang’s agriculture and leadership campus, after Senegal, his home country. Niang, a Senegal-US citizen and former advisor of Barack Obama, teamed up with former Togolese soccer star Emmanuel Adebayor for this project. He announced on his Facebook page. The campus, whose construction is set to begin next month, is called JeufZone.

“After Senegal, Togo takes a prominent place in the commitment to food self-sufficiency on our continent. I would like to salute the leadership of my brother and friend Emmanuel Adebayor, a great footballer, with whom I am carrying out this project," Niang posted on the social network.

"We will join forces, with partnerships with the Ministry of Agriculture, UNDP, and all organizations that can help to train more young people in agriculture," he added.

As part of their agreement, Adebayor should make available his domain which is a little over an hour and a half from Lome (Kpalimé - ed. note). “We Africans must feed ourselves. For that, we must use our lands, our domains. That's why I got the idea to start farming. With Thione Niang, we will join our hands to create something beautiful for the youth," said the former Ballon d’Or winner who played in prestigious clubs like Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Real Madrid.

Jeufzone Institute’s goal is to give young Africans the tools and experience they need to start their agribusiness.

In Senegal, the institute is an extension of the JeufZone farms, an agro-industrial platform for the production, marketing, distribution, and preservation of agricultural products, with a focus on local products. Training at the institute covers most aspects of agriculture, such as seed selection, planting, harvesting, irrigation, natural pesticides, livestock, and also entrepreneurial leadership.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

After moving from the 133rd to 127th place under the 2020 Doing Business’ construction permit index, Togo intends to reiterate this feat in the coming edition of the global ranking. To this end, it has introduced this year multiple reforms.

GETTING ELECTRICITY (more info)

Over the past two years, Togo’s ranking under the Doing Business’ Getting electricity and water indicator has increased consistently. Owing this performance to multiple reforms aimed at making it easier for businesses to access power and water, Lomé plans to introduce even more reforms this year to keep up its improvements.

REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.