Togo: Government takes new social measures to deal with the high cost of living

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Tuesday, 20 September 2022 14:11

Togo: Government takes new social measures to deal with the high cost of living

(Togo First) - The Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé, announced last Friday (Sept 16) 10 new social measures to help his people better cope with inflation.

These include a 10% increase in the index value of salaries and retirement pensions for civilian and military civil servants, i.e. an annual amount of 22.5 billion CFA francs, and an additional 5% increase in the retirement pension for all retirees in the civilian and military public sector and the private sector.

The Togolese leader also granted a monthly transport allowance of 10,000 CFA francs on an exceptional basis for each state official, "payable outside the bulletin to cope with the increase in travel costs", corresponding to an annual budgetary cost of 8.8 billion CFA francs as well as a bonus for the balance of the salary advance granted in January 2022 to civil servants and retirees on the remaining 8 months to be repaid, equivalent to 7.1 billion CFA francs.

For the next school year, the new provisions include a special bonus of 3 billion CFA francs (via direct cash transfers) for students’ parents to buy supplies. They will also receive 2.5 billion CFA francs of subsidies to get writing and reading manuals for primary school students.

Other social measures include increasing fertilizer subsidy from 6 billion CFA francs to 7.5 billion CFA francs, same for the subsidy on petroleum products which is set to rise from 30 billion CFA francs to 37.8 billion CFA francs. There will also be an additional allocation of the subsidy on domestic gas, from 7.7 billion CFA francs to 9.3 billion CFA francs.

President Gnassingbé also announced the continued application of fiscal measures favoring the private sector, as part of the health emergency.

These new measures were taken after talks between the government and social actors, in line with the first axis of Togo’s 2025 government roadmap.

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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.