Atcha-Dédji, managing director of state-run telecom firm Togocellulaire was recently appointed as the new head of the telecom holding TogoCom.

Also, Col. Gnama Latta, managing director of the national civil aviation agency, was named chairman of TogoCom, thus replacing Taïrou Bagbiegue.

Created on July 13, 2017 by a decree falling in the framework of the major transformation and upgrade program launched within Togotélécom, TogoCom has a social capital of CFA1 billion and defines the strategic orientations of the group. It sets goals for all the latter’s subsidiaries (which it fully own) and is in charge of their performances.

Togo’s parliament has enabled the government to ratify the Seoul protocol to end illegal tobacco trade signed in November 2012.

The implementation of this regulatory framework aims to protect public health by enhancing the legal system with stricter penal sanctions and international law enforcement and judicial cooperation.

To be more specific, adopting this protocol should boost the State’s tax revenues. This with the new control systems that reinforce the whole tobacco production chain. From manufacturing to distribution of tobacco and its derivatives.

Proceeds collected through the operation will be used to fund hospitals, according to Togolese authorities. “Ending illegal trade will help generate more tax revenues since sales of taxed tobacco products will grow. These revenues will be directed to the health sector,” said indeed Moustapha Mijiyawa, Minister of Health.

In West Africa, tobacco smuggling is a major issue. Tax evasion both upstream and downstream in this sub-sector constitutes a real challenge for the authorities. According to a recent study, each year, volumes of tobacco produced on the black market, in this region, stand at 25,000 tons. This is 10% of the annual production of the four largest suppliers of this market which counts more than 320 million consumers.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

In the event of a positive outcome following the dialogue between political actors of Togo, the country will receive $35 million from the US under the Millenium Challenge Account Threshold Program.

This was announced during the last quarterly meeting of the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) board held on Dec 19, 2017. “Concerning Togo, the board is encouraged by the possibility of an inclusive dialogue which will help end the actual political crisis. However, we will keep looking at various developments on the field before taking any decision about the proposed threshold program”, the institution said in the statement announcing the news.

The threshold program is MCC’s least significant subsidy programme for countries that showed they were committed to improving their performances in terms of public management, but that are not fully eligible for more important investments.

The program developed for Togo has two goals. First, improving Togolese populations’ access to ICT services. Second, improving legal access to land by legitimizing customary land rights and boosting inclusive land access.

The ministry of infrastructures and transports has officially launched the project for “digital payment” of road and railway fees.

Hence, subscription fees for driving license exam, car registration, registration card and other services provided by the road transport and railway office, will be paid digitally.

The related service can be accessed by calling *145#.

The project is part of a major reform and modernization program targeting public administrations. The latter was launched in 2006 by President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé.

In addition to significantly reducing both costs and time associated to the various processes it covers, the digitalization project will help improve transparency in State-revenue collection.

Presently, registration of used cars in Togo is done in a day, as against many days with tedious procedures in the past. Indeed, currently, someone that buys a used car can get his or her registration card and license plate within 24 hours only. 

The news was announced by the IT unit of the Road and Railway Transport Office.

In the framework the new measures, buyers will have to complete procedures upon purchase, via an interconnected system linking customs services to certified forwarding agents.

The measure resulted from the need to reduce delays associated with the procedures and achieve their complete digitalization.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently approved the disbursement of $35.6 million (CFA19,761 million) to Togo, according to a statement released by the institution.

The disbursement falls under an agreement reached last May, between the Togolese government and the Bretton Woods institution, also under an extended credit facility amounting to $241.5 million (CFA134,067.22 million).

The funds should enable Togo to pursue its reforms, whose results by the way satisfied IMF. “Primary deficit has improved, passing from 6% yearly average in 2013-2016 to 1.4% of GDP in the first half of 2017. This mainly as a result of better controlled expenditures and the suspension of unorthodox financing for public investment projects”, the statement reads.

IMF expected that at the end of 2017, Togo’s public debt should have decreased to 77.3% of its GDP, from 81.5% in 2016. According to the institution, the country’s economy, despite the various political troubles it experienced, should grow by 4.8% with a relatively low inflation.

Regarding the new disbursement, it should be noted that it follows another $34.5 million (CFA19,151.19 million), provided last May, still under the same agreement.

In Lomé, Togo, experts from the ministry of trade, private sector promotion and others from the International Trade Center are working to validate a feasibility study related to the creation of a national agency for the promotion of exports and investments.

Actually, the parties involved are looking at, not only, conclusions and recommendations made by the committee steering the project but also at projects related to governance structure, organic framework and elaborated support services.

At the end of the process, these parties should submit to Togolese authorities a document specifying, among others, the mandate and mission of the agency; governance structure and organic framework; funding sources and support services for the promotion of exports and investments.

These will enable the government to draw the required administrative procedures for the effective establishment of the new agency.

To fight fraud and tax evasion, and boost tax transparency in Togo, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has teamed up with Togo’s Revenue Office (OTR).

Under the partnership, emphasis will be put on information-sharing between tax services and assessment of two international standards also: information-sharing on demand between tax services and immediate information exchange about financial accounts. The latter was only launched in 2014; similarly to the first information exchanges which date back from September 2017 only, in about 50 countries that is.

OTR’s officials welcomed the support of the international entity as information exchange, about tax, they say, “is essential between tax services”. “It is primordial for transparency, equity, tax fairness and the efficient mobilization of public funds”, they continued.

Oragroup has officially opened in Lomé a trading room destined for the regional, and likely international market.

Present in 12 countries in Western and Central Africa, Oragroup, through this move, shows its will to be a reference of exchange markets in the monetary zones where its subsidiaries operate. This, in addition to playing a key role in the dynamization of the State securities secondary market.

With the new trading room, the bank will be able to better serve its private and institutional clients, both in Africa and elsewhere, as well as other regional banks. Indeed, the new room positions the lender as a financial intermediate, thus at the center of financial exchanges in countries where it operates.