What is Togo’s rank in the African e-commerce sector?

ITC

Friday, 14 December 2018 17:55

What is Togo’s rank in the African e-commerce sector?

(Togo First) - Earlier this week, the UNCTAD published the 2018 UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index, which determines the place of e-commerce in 151 economies. Four key indicators are considered in this index.

For Togo, this edition portrays a nascent and lagging e-commerce sector, following the same trend as in Africa that is clearly poorly prepared for e-commerce and taking less advantage of the digital opportunities than the rest of the world.

Only 12% of Togolese use internet; a percentage far below the average in Africa. However, according to the UNCTAD, 45% of the population over 15 years old have an account with a financial institution or a mobile money account making the west African country one of the countries with higher financial inclusion.

According to the report, as far as security is concerned, Togo has 19 secure internet servers per million of residents while Mauritius, Nigeria and South Africa, the three leaders in that regard in Africa have respectively 56, 52 and 83 secure servers per 1 million residents.

For the fourth indicator of that index, development of postal services, Togo scored 41 over 100.

The UNCTAD’s index also measures the percentage of individuals who make online purchases. No figure has been mentioned in that criteria for Togo.

Overall, Togo lost ten places to become the 21^st in Africa. Within the Ecowas region, the country is outrun by Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, which is the leader of e-commerce within WAEMU.

Côte d’Ivoire is 24^th, Mali 28^th , Burkina Faso 30^th and Benin 33^rd. The lower rank of the index in Africa are obtained by Guinea (42^nd), Chad (43^rd) and Niger (44^th).

In the World index, Togo is 121^st. In October 2018, in a report published in Ouagadougou, the UNCTAD, estimated that Togo still had to make efforts in the e-commerce sector. The institution estimated that limited online payments and difficult deliveries out of Lomé are the main roadblocks to the development of e-commerce in the country.

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.