Togo will set up a body devoted to the management and coordination of anti-cancer actions–the National Council for the Fight Against Cancer. Lomé issued the decree announcing the entity’s creation last Friday, Jan 12.

The Council will steer prevention and care actions. It will also ensure the mobilization of resources needed to fight cancer nationwide. 

For the government, cancer is “a genuine public health issue” and that explains the Council’s creation. Cancer, the authorities stressed, “is currently the second leading cause of mortality across all of the subregion’s hospitals, after cardiovascular diseases.” Togo recorded over 7,000 new cases of cancer in 2022, according to official data. 

Besides the Council’s upcoming creation, the country, it should be recalled, had already adopted a national strategy to fight the disease and established the National Cancer Institute.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo plans to ratify the WTO’s fishing subsidy convention. On January 10, the Council of Ministers allowed the ministry of fishing to start taking steps towards the document’s ratification.

This will help Togo take more measures to reduce harmful subsidies to fishing and protect global fish stocks.

Already, the country has passed many laws to implement beneficial fishing and aquaculture policies. Last May, for example, the Parliament approved the ratification of the International Convention for the Conservation of Certain Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in the Atlantic Ocean.

This Convention will allow Togo to boost industrial tuna fishing, and foster job creation in the process.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo will soon actualize its bill on the architectural profession. The move was announced on January 12, during a Council of Ministers. It should support Lomé’s cheap social housing project. 

The updated bill will replace the current one which dates to 1990. According to the government, the actualization will integrate changes in the sector and set the conditions for better organization of architects working in Togo, their missions, and their working conditions.

As part of the revision, innovations will also be introduced, notably concerning the organization of the swearing-in process, the composition of the Higher Council of the National Order, and the modalities of the right of establishment for architects of foreign nationality.

The new bill, says the Council of Ministers, will enable greater involvement and a significant contribution by architects to the implementation of the government's roadmap project, which plans for the construction of 20,000 affordable housing units.

Togo has 126 architects according to the National Order of Architects (ONAT). The list was released last April.

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese government just disclosed several measures taken consequent to the fire that ravaged the market of Agoè Assiyéyé some weeks ago. 

One of the measures relates to loan provision. The government set a one-year moratorium on the repayment of outstanding loans when the fire broke out.

It also set up a zero-interest bridging loan to help reconstitute the capital of the victims. 

Next, Lomé extended, exceptionally, the insurance program of the Fonds National de la Finance Inclusive (National Fund for Inclusive Finance, FNFI) to 50% for all victims and 100% for the program’s beneficiaries.

All decentralized financial services operating in the affected market will have access to the FNFI’s refinancing window. 

A temporary market was set up at Togograin, in the Agoè-Nyivé 1 municipality. This helped sellers quickly resume their activities.

The fire, it is worth noting, destroyed three-quarters of the Agoè Assiyéyé market.

Togo’s first issue on the WAEMU stock market was successful. The country raised CFA25 billion through the operation, a twin issue of fungible treasury bills (BATs). The issue closed on January 12. 

In detail, Lomé raised CFA18 billion with bills that mature over 91 days and CFA7 billion with bills that mature over a year.

According to the issue’s report, investors in the West African sub-region purchased CFA39 billion worth of bills. This corresponds to a coverage rate of 157.24%.

Togo plans to raise CFA607 billion on the regional money market in 2024. It plans to use the funds to finance part of its annual budget. The latter stands at CFA2,179 billion-expenditures and revenues. 

Esaïe Edoh

Ten (10) of the hundred (100) most inspiring French-speaking black women of the 21st century are Togolese. The ranking was published on January 9, 2024, by Femmes Inspirantes, a media platform.

In the Politicians category, the Togolese women featured include Prime Minister Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, Sandra Ablamba Johnson, the Ministers of Trade and Grassroots Development, Rose Mivedor and Myriam Dossou-d'Almeida, respectively, and MP Abira Bonfoh.

In the Executives and business leaders category, Aissatou Diallo and Estelle Komlan, respectively Director of Communications and Marketing at Togocom and Director of the Trading Room at Groupe Orabank, stood out.

Clarisse Agbégnénou, a Franco-Togolese judoka, won in the Pilots/Sports category. Kayi Dogbé, director of KD Groupe, and Delali Damessi, columnist on Canal Plus Afrique's "Le chœur des Femmes" program, were respectively ranked in the Women Entrepreneurs and Women in Arts and Media categories.

According to Jessica Makosso, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Femmes Inspirantes, the ranking "encourages those who dare, boosts those who doubt, and supports those who dive". It highlights female leadership, specifically women who stand out through their stories.

Esaïe Edoh

From this year onward, students enrolled in bachelor's and master's degree programs in private schools will take the national exams. The exams will be organized by the same institution, the Office des Examens Professionnels du Supérieur (OEPS), formerly known as the Office du Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (OBTS).

The Council of Ministers announced the move last Wednesday, January 10. According to the authorities, the approach aims to guarantee the quality of education provided in universities and make sure this quality is the same both in private and public schools. 

Harmonizing curricula

Therefore, starting this year, students of private universities all over the country will have to pass State exams, at the bachelor and master levels.

"From now on, all professional examinations at these levels, bachelor and master, will be organized by a single institution throughout the territory,” noted Minister of Communication and Government spokesman Yawa Kouigan.

This will help harmonize all curricula by making both the students of public and private schools pass the same exams, in similar conditions, and obtain the same degrees.

Accreditation

Minister Kouigan added, however, that the State would keep issuing homologations for degrees obtained outside the country. “Accreditation will continue, but only for degrees obtained outside, under the same conditions, not in Togo. Once verifications are conclusive, they can be accreditated,” Kouigan explained.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The  Autonomous Road Maintenance Financing Company (SAFER) spent CFA37.9 billion to maintain the country’s roads in 2023. The figure, a record, was presented to the parliament late last year.

Compared to 2022 where the SAFER spent CFA32.6 billion, last year’s spending was up by 16%. The expenditures stood at CFA17 billion in 2019 and 2020, and CFA19 billion in 2021. 

Difficulties on the mobilization front

On the mobilization front, the SAFER raised more money in recent years but at a slower pace than it spent. 

Read also:Togo: the Autonomous Road Maintenance Financing Company raised CFA30 billion in 2022

Last year, the State company raised CFA26.1 billion, down from CFA31 billion in 2022. In 2019, it raised almost as much as it spent, slightly more than CFA17 billion. 

Besides raising money for the State of Togo, the SAFER’s missions include funding routine and periodic maintenance of the entire Togolese road network, funding the construction of new toll gates, and operating existing ones.

In 2019, its capacity to finance road maintenance was estimated at just 30%.

The SAFER hopes to mobilize CFA23.5 billion in 2024. This represents about 44% of its estimated needs for the year: CFA53 billion.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi