The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock recently launched an agricultural mechanization program, in partnership with the Moroccan Office Cherifien des Phosphates (OCP Africa). 

Overall, 120 participants will take part in the program. They will be equipped with skills and tools to help them be more productive and earn more.

The participants will be divided into two groups. One group will gather 100 people who will learn how to operate tractors and 20 others who will learn how to maintain the vehicles. The second group will gather the Tractor and Agricultural Machinery Driving Schools (ECTMs) from the Central, Kara, and Savanes regions.

Training young tractor operators

Specifically designed for young individuals aspiring to become tractor operators without prior experience, this training will provide them with essential skills to effectively utilize advanced agricultural technologies. It is worth noting that the initiative is developed in collaboration with the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) through the African Academy of Industrial Training (AAIT).

Togo and Morocco, it is worth noting already have an agreement that aims to facilitate access to mechanization services in agriculture. Together, the partners also launched a pilot agricultural mechanization center in Kpalimé.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A new initiative to support SMEs was launched in Togo on March 30, 2024. Known as the Togo Business Angels Network (TOGOBAN), the initiative was launched by Rose Kayi-Mivedor, Minister of Trade and Local Consumption.

The project aims to provide business owners with funding, and training to grow their projects.

Togoban is the local branch of the African Business Angels Network (ABAN). 

“The goal is to provide startups and small and medium-sized enterprises the support they need to grow. Our role is to take the risks that banks are unwilling to take. And beyond financing the project, we aim to invest in the entrepreneur or innovator themselves," explained Olatokunbo Ige, founding member of Togoban.

On March 31, 2024, President Faure Gnassingbé requested a second reading of the revised constitution adopted on March 25. 

Gnassingbé "today requested the President of the National Assembly to proceed with a second reading of the adopted law." According to a statement from the Presidency, the request is driven by the "interest the text sparked since its adoption."

Approved with 89 votes out of 91, the revised constitution should pave the way for a Fifth Republic and a parliamentary regime.

Togo and Luxembourg signed a letter of intent focused on their cooperation in the coming years. The latter was signed in Lomé, on March 28, by the Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Dussey, and Luxembourg's Minister of Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Xavier Bettel. Bettel stopped in Togo as part of a West African tour.

The letter of intent paves the way for stronger cooperation between the two countries, especially in the areas of economy, digitalization, environment, education, vocational training, and financial inclusion. Minister Bettel has met various Togolese officials in charge of these sectors.

"With the signing of this letter of intent, we are laying the groundwork today to deepen the partnership of cooperation between Luxembourg and Togo. I am pleased with this first step towards closer cooperation, which will be based on development priorities," Bettel wrote on his official X account.

In Togo, Luxembourg is engaged in the Kara Investment Fund. This fund supports projects in sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, port, airport, road infrastructure, as well as telecommunications and digitalization.

Esaïe Edoh

By the end of this year, 70% of the Togolese territory should have electricity. The Ministry of Finance recently published a Citizen’s Budget report where the forecast was. The projection, however, came from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

According to the document, Togo recorded an electrification rate of 66%, 63%, and 59% in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. To achieve its 70% goal this year, the government set aside a provisional budget of CFA57 billion to finance various energy projects and programs. 

The Ministry of Energy will use the money to develop off-grid networks, through projects such as the CIZO, the PRAVOST, or the Tinga initiative. Part of the funds will help expand the Blitta solar plant. 

Recently, a power supply project was launched in Sokodé (Central region). From there, it will be extended to various cities, including Dapaong, Kara, Atakpamé, Kpalimé, and Aného. In detail, it involves laying 34 km of  20 KV medium-voltage network, the construction of 61 MV/LV distribution substations, and 360 km of low-voltage (LV) network.

Esaïe Edoh 

Niger could become the fifth country to strike a free-roaming partnership with Togo. Last week, a delegation from Niger’s telecom watchdog discussed the possibility with its Togolese counterpart. The delegation was in Lomé until March 26. 

The partnership could, according to the two sides, “make it easier for the people (of both countries, ed. note) to use telecom services when moving from or to one of the two States.”

During its mission, the delegation from Niger learned more about Togo’s telecom regulation techniques, especially its new “data-based regulation” method. 

Before Niger, delegations from Comoros and Mauritania were also in Togo to learn from the Togolese watchdog, ARCEP Togo. 

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo produced 2,406,614 tons of tubers in 2023, up from 2,238,529 tons in 2022. The output thus rose by 7.5% year-on-year according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture. 

In detail, over half of last year’s tuber output (1,433,955 tons) came from the Plateaux and Centrale regions. The two regions produced 720,228 tons and 705,735 tons, respectively. The remainder of the production came from the other three regions: Maritime (481,664 tons), Kara (462,885 tons), and Savanes (28,111 tons).

The recent increase is a continuation of the dynamic that started in 2017. Indeed, from that year to 2021, Togo’s tuber output soared by 12%, from around 1,950,000 tons to 2,193,462 tons.

The sector has been thriving and the government intends to keep it that way. Last year, Lomé validated a plan covering the 2024-2028 period to boost the industry. The plan, named Investment Action Plan for the Root and Tuber Crop Sector (PRT), was drawn by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Interprofessional Council of the Root and Tuber Crop Sector (CIFPRT). The government plans to invest CFA2.34 billion in this strategy.

Esaïe Edoh

Dongaco Togo, a subsidiary of Dongaco, has set up its operations at the Adétikopé Industrial Platform (PIA). The firm holds a license for producing Coca-Cola products in Togo.

"We will be exploiting all Coca-Cola products. Specifically, for Coca-Cola at the PIA today, we have 7 hectares," stated Thiam Lamine Amadou, the company's CEO. "We have two projects here, and the first one concerns Coca-Cola, which we will operate on 4 hectares. On the remaining 3 hectares, there is a second project in the pipeline," he added.

Dongaco Togo plans to create 2,000 local jobs over the next two to three years.

The firm’s arrival at the PIA is a new development resulting from the separation between Castel and Coca-Cola in 2022. The breakup between the French and US firms led to a change in strategy in the production and distribution of Coca-Cola products in Togo.

Dongaco is not the only company to have positioned itself and expressed interest in the PIA in recent weeks. FHC Medica, a drug manufacturer, and New Huasha Company Limited, a manufacturer of melamine and plastic tableware, also joined the platform recently. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo President, Faure Gnassingbé, inaugurated an integrated poultry farming at Avétonou (Agou prefecture), about 100 km from Lomé. The facility spans 660 hectares.

The project is led by Porteo-Graine, a subsidiary of the Porteo Group. The facility will include a poultry area covering 162 ha. The remaining space will accommodate the Agricultural Research Technical Institute (ITRA), the Institute of Alternative Training and Development (IFAD-Avetonou), and the Eco-Village.

The core of the poultry project revolves around several operational units, including a poultry feed manufacturing plant with a production capacity of 450 tons per day, a hatchery unit capable of producing 1.2 million chicks per week, a slaughter unit processing up to 10,000 chickens per hour, and seven breeding farms intended to produce up to 50 million chickens per year (against 35 million heads produced across the country at present) in its initial phase. In the second phase, production should double, reaching 100 million chickens per year. Also, the project should create over a thousand new decent jobs.

Financial details relative to the project are yet to be known. So is the date on which it will be completed.

The Togolese government explained that the project aligns with its goals of achieving food self-sufficiency and becoming a key player in West Africa’s poultry industry. In line with these ambitions, the country intends to develop and operate 100,000 hectares in collaboration with various partners.

The Porteo Group, which steers the project, is well-known for developing various construction and road infrastructure projects in West Africa, notably in Côte d'Ivoire and recently in Benin and Togo. In the latter, the firm secured two years ago a contract to rebuild Lomé’s Grand Market. Through the new project, it now ventures into agriculture. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Togo has implemented for the first time a green budget. The budget stands at CFA118.2 billion per year and represents 5.41% of the national budget for 2024, which stands at CFA2,179 billion. 

The forecast green budget will help sustain measures to mitigate climate change and protect the environment. In detail, CFA96 billion will be allocated to climate change mitigation, and CFA22 billion to environmental protection.

The green budget will focus on adaptation, mitigation, biodiversity improvement, facilitating access to water, combating pollution, and waste management. About 56% of the green budget, CFA66 billion, will be invested in climate change adaptation, while nearly CFA30 billion, or 26% of the allocation, will help mitigate climate change’s effects.

Among others, the green budget will finance projects that aim to increase forest cover to 26% of the territory by 2030 through the restoration of 1.4 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes and the planting of 1 billion trees by 2030.

Various socioeconomic development projects will also be carried out. These will focus on helping vulnerable populations be more resilient to climate change and its impacts.

Initially, the green budget will be shared across nine ministries. However, in the future, it will extend to 22 other ministerial departments and 12 state institutions until the whole central administration is covered. 

Esaïe Edoh