A technical committee was launched in Togo on April 12, 2024, to monitor product marking. The fruit of a contract between the Togolese government and SICPA.SA, the new committee aims to ensure the quality of imported consumer products like water, tobacco, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. 

The committee comprises experts from the Togolese Revenue Office, the tax authority, and the Ministry of Trade. Its mission is to combat false declarations, and unfair competition, and encourage economic actors to adhere to established standards. 

Since July 2023, Togo has established a commission to oversee the contract with SICPA SA. The technical committee supports this commission in implementing legal provisions and monitoring the reform. 

"The technical committee is the crutch of the commission. It will ensure that the commission can fully play its role," emphasized Essowavana Adoyi, former tax commissioner at the OTR and president of the Commission, as quoted by Togo Presse. "Behind this reform, one must consider the population's good health, as the government ensures that citizens consume good quality food," he added. 

In Togo, eliminating contraband, counterfeit, falsified, and expired products remains challenging for regulatory authorities, particularly in the food consumption sector. According to a study from 2021, 80% of beer and 40% of tobacco products imported and marketed in Togo escaped the tax administration's scrutiny.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo raised CFA33 billion on the WAEMU market for its first issue in Q1 2024. Lomé raised CFA3 billion more than it targeted.

In detail, the country collected CFA27.5 billion on fungible treasury bills (BATs). These securities mature over 91 and 364 days and carry multiple interest rates. The remaining CFA5.5 billion was raised on fungible treasury bonds (OATs). They will mature over five years at an annual interest rate of 6.40%.

Additionally, the operation’s report notes that 37 investors subscribed to the simultaneous issue. They mobilized CFA46.5 billion, representing a 155.3% coverage rate for the operation.

Adding the latest operation, Togo has raised CFA227 billion on the regional financial market so far, this year. This is out of an annual target of CFA607 billion.

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese Ministry of Rural Access and Rural Roads seeks civil engineering engineers and technicians to work on a project to build 21 modular mixed steel-concrete bridges of the Unibridge type. The Ministry launched a call for applications to select 25 agents.

At the end of the process, the ministry plans to recruit 3 QHSE engineers (Quality of Work Execution - Health - Safety - Environment), two surveyor/topographer technicians, 7 works managers, 7 assistant works managers, and 6 assistant metal structure assemblers. 

The selected agents will undergo a three-year skill transfer program which will enable them to work on the project. 

The works will be overseen by the French firm MATIERE which is active on the project.

According to the recruitment notice, applications are accepted until May 10, 2024.

Starting from May 1, 2024, land operations within the territorial jurisdictions of the Golfe and Agoè-Nyivé prefectures in Greater Lomé will be carried out at the Single Land Office (GFU) at the headquarters of the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR). 

In a recently disclosed notice, the OTR pointed out that the move should help simplify and streamline procedures, subsequently consolidating requests for information, submissions, monitoring, and retrieval of various land documents at a single counter.

The land documents include parcel plans, registration requisitions, subdivision extracts, land delineation, topographic surveys, and land appraisals.

According to the tax office, this transition to the Single Land Office is a major improvement in land management in Togo. It complements other land reforms implemented by the OTR, including the elimination of second and third stamps and the digitization of land title and parcel plan submissions. All these reforms aim to make land-related procedures safer, ultimately reducing land disputes nationwide.

 Esaïe Edoh

A National Institute of Geography could soon be set up in Togo. The project was discussed on April 9, 2024, by the Council of Ministers. 

If effective, the project could help bolster the ongoing land reform. The initiative was presented by the Ministry of Urbanism. 

The projected entity would result from the transformation of the current Directorate-General of Geographic Information and Cartography. The Institute would be "endowed with administrative and financial autonomy," aiming "to enhance its effectiveness and contribute to socio-economic development." 

The new entity should integrate modern tools, enabling the geolocation of activities and phenomena, digitization, storage, and sharing of geospatial data across all domains.

The project should, overall, reinforce the government’s efforts to improve land tenure, and public services, and improve Togo’s business climate. These include digitizing cadastres, land deeds, and parcel plans. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Two key studies related to the project to curb flooding in the Lac-Togo area were validated last week. The studies, the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report, and the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) were validated in Aneho. 

Financed by the World Bank, the project aims to address the recurrent flooding in Togo’s maritime region. It involves dredging works, construction works, basin and canal development, as well as the construction of drains and wire thresholds. The works should begin in October 2024, after compensations have been paid, and end in October 2025.

The project falls under the WACA ResIP-Togo coastal resilience program. It should significantly enhance the living conditions of the population by safeguarding the shores of Lake Togo and providing access to previously hard-to-reach areas during the rainy season. 

The authorities also hope that it will improve fishing in the area, thus creating new permanent jobs and boosting productivity. 

The World Bank invested CFA2.8 billion in this project. 

The Togo Digital Agency (ATD) is working on a plan to speed up the digitalization of Togo’s public services. The plan was presented on April 9, 2024, during the Council of Ministers. 

The document specifically aims to modernize the public administration, through innovative tech tools that will enable the administration to allow users - individuals and businesses - to fill online forms, submit documents, pay fees and schedule meetings for on-site formalities.”

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation, the initiative will make access to public services easier for the general public.  

It is worth noting that some public departments are already experimenting with the tools, such as the Ministry of Trade, which took steps to dematerialize its services with the technical and operational support of the ATD.  

Ayi Renaud Dossa

Besides financial inclusion, digitalization, and employment, Sierra Leone seeks to cooperate with Togo on maritime and logistics fronts. On Monday, April 8, David Moinina Sengeh, Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, covered the topic with Togo’s Minister of Maritime Economy.

I am delighted to have welcomed the Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, @dsengeh, during his visit to Lomé. Our discussions focused on the need to strengthen ties between our nations, particularly in strategic sectors such as maritime transport and logistics.

I would like to once… pic.twitter.com/cNEF4gzJg2

— Kokou Edem TENGUE (@kokouedemTENGUE) April 8, 2024

Sengeh was in Lomé, Togo, to find ways to bolster the cooperation between both countries. During his meeting with Tengue, he praised Togo for being an example in terms of port management and logistics, an example that Sierra Leone wants to follow.

"We look forward to learning and applying similar strategies in Sierra Leone," Sengeh said.

In response, Minister Tengue declared: "We are delighted to explore new avenues of partnership with Sierra Leone. This is an opportunity to build on our respective strengths for the mutual benefit of our nations. "

While Togo has only one deep-water port in West Africa, Freetown is Africa's largest natural harbor.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo will hold its next legislative and regional elections on April 29, 2024. 

The polls which were scheduled for an earlier date were postponed to collect the public’s opinion about the recent constitutional revision. 

However, according to a decree issued in a Council of Ministers, the electoral campaign will now begin on April 13 and close on April 27. Advance voting is scheduled for April 26, 2024, for the armed forces, paramilitary forces, and the operational reserve.

Esaïe Edoh