Togo First
Togo: IFC investments set to pass $80 million by June 2024 (forecast)
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) projects that its investments in Togo will exceed $80 million by June 2024.
In a recent meeting with Togo’s Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, the IFC Director for West Africa, Olivier Buyoya, disclosed the forecast. They met last Thursday, March 14.
“We opened our office here in Lomé four years ago. We are very proud to say that this fiscal year, which ends in June 2024, we expect our funding portfolio to exceed $80 million,” Buyoya said.
“Three years ago, we were around $5 million in investments,” he added.
Coming soon: A workshop to bolster local businesses
During the meeting, the IFC executive also unveiled that the Corporation planned to hold a regional workshop for local IFC-backed businesses.
"We have set up a program to support national champions. These are the Togolese companies that today struggle daily to create and maintain jobs. Our program will not only provide them with dedicated financing but also help them develop their projects," said Olivier Buyoya. Before adding: "We have communicated to Madam Prime Minister that we have chosen Lomé for the first workshop on this program at the regional level."
In Togo, the IFC invests in various sectors, such as internet connectivity (Axian and Togocom), energy (Zener), and mobility (Gozem).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
WAEMU Securities: Togo nears CFA200 billion raised so far this year
Togo raised CFA34 billion on the WAEMU market last Friday. The country’s treasury obtained the funds through a simultaneous issue of fungible treasury bonds and bills (OATs and BATs in French).
Overall, 16 investors subscribed to the operation, raising CFA35 billion, out of which the Togolese treasury retained CFA34 billion.
According to the operation’s report, the treasury secured CFA28 billion through the BATs and CFA6 billion through the OATs. The former mature over 364 days and have multiple interest rates while the latter mature over 3 and 5 years at respective annual rates of 6.15% and 6.40%.
Including this recent issue, Togo has secured CFA194 billion on the regional money market so far this year. This is around 32% of its annual target which is CFA607 billion. The funds will finance the national budget which stands at CFA2,179 billion, expenses and revenues.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Government foresees significant drop in inflation in 2024
Inflation in Togo should keep falling this year. According to the government, it should drop to 2.7%, from 5.3% in 2023.
Sani Yaya, Minister of Finance, disclosed the forecast in the latest meeting of the National Council of Credit (CNC in French). During the roundtable, stakeholders also discussed progress on the economic, financial, and monetary fronts in 2023, as well the macroeconomic outlook for 2023-2028.
The government based its forecast on various reforms it introduced, as well on investments in key projects.
“The inflation rate is expected at 2.7% in 2024, after standing at 5.3% in 2023 and 7.6% in 2022,” Sani Yaya declared. In his opinion, the drop would be fostered by “lower inflationnary tensions worldwide and an improved local supply of food products”.
Lomé also foresees greater trust in the country’s economic stability, driven by incentives for mico, small, and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs). Such incentives include increasing lending at lower rates.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, the INSEED, Togo recorded an inflation rate of 4.7% in February 2024, against 4.8% the month before.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Major bridge construction project to begin tomorrow
The government will kick off tomorrow, March 19, the construction of 21 bridges in the countryside. Togo First learned from a reliable source that President Faure Gnassinbé would launch the project. Matière, a French company, is in charge of the works.
The project is set to begin in Kolidè, in the Ogou 2 municipality (Plateaux region).
With the bridges, rural people in the concerned areas will be able to access basic socio-economic facilities and services with more ease. They will also have more ease selling their farm products.
The project covers all five regions of Togo. France cofinanced it with €78 million. Last June, the Togolese Minister of Finance, Sani Yaya, and the French Ambassador to Togo, Augustin Favereau, signed the financing agreement.
Esaïe Edoh
Industrial Gas: Adenia Partners buy 12 African subsdiaries from Air Liquide, including the one in Togo
Last week, Adenia Partners announced it has acquired 12 subsidiaries of Air Liquide, a French industrial gas group. Adenia, a Mauritius-based private equity firm, indicated that the businesses acquired are spread across West and Central Africa. Togo is included.
Established in Togo in 1970, the French company Air Liquide supplies a range of industrial and medical gases, based on fundamental molecules such as oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. The multinational also designs fluid distribution systems for the medical and laboratory sectors and offers welding and cutting solutions.
The purchase is a prelude to the formation of an independent industrial gas group. The 12 countries hosting the subsidiaries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, and Togo. Their names will change and they will be pooled under a new entity.
In a press release, Air Liquide added that it sold the assets for around €60 million. That is less than 10% of the Group's total sales in Africa.
Adenia Partners, which manages over $800 million in assets through more than 30 investments, promises to support the growth of this new sector of its portfolio with long-term investments of up to €30 million.
The African industrial sector currently experiences growth, as demand for essential gases such as oxygen and nitrogen increases. These gases are used in many fields, from healthcare to industrial processing.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo and Austria ink direct flight agreement between their capitals
Austrian Airlines can now serve Lomé directly. Last Thursday, March 14, Togo and Austria signed an agreement to this end. The deal was signed in Lomé, by the Togolese Minister of Transport, Affoh Atcha-Dedji, and the Austrian Ambassador to Togo, Thomas Schlesinger.
Commenting on the deal, Idrissou Ahabout, Managing Director of the National Agency for Civil Aviation of Togo (ANAC), said: “This agreement enables companies like Asky and Ethiopian Airlines to offer direct flights to Austria, from Lomé. It also opens the way for all investors who want to connect Lomé to Vienna to initiate the processes.”
The agreement integrates environmental protection, security, and travelers’ safety.
It will contribute to the government’s ambition to make the airport of Lomé (AIGE) a regional hub.
In October 2022, Asky Airlines, the Lomé-based pan-African airline, opened new flight routes. As a result, the number of passengers at AIGE soared above 630,000 people in the first half of 2023.
It is worth noting that the airport hopes its passenger traffic will reach 1.5 million heads by 2025.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Exports revenues record significant growth between 2012 and 2022
Togolese exports grew from CFA566.1 billion to CFA841 billion in value from 2012 to 2022. The data, consulted by Togo First, was initially reported by the country’s Institute for Statistics, INSEED.
According to the source, though there were fluctuations over the decade concerned, the figure grew from year to year on average, and so did activity at the port of Lomé.
From 566.1 billion in 2012, exports lept to 637.3 billion the next year, plunged by 26% in 2014, and soared back up to 598.3 billion in 2019.
Then Covid hit
Togo earned 561.1 billion from exports in 2020. The following year, the number grew to 598.8 billion.
But 2022 turned the tables
In the year closing the decade reviewed, the country’s export revenues soared by 40% to CFA841 billion.
The trend stood with export revenues standing at 424.1 billion in the first half of 2023, according to the INSEED.
However, trade balance widens (more and more)
Over the same 10 years reviewed, import spending grew significantly, reflecting Togo’s dependency on foreign countries.
From 939.2 billion in 2012, the country spent CFA1,741.2 billion to buy foreign goods in 2022.
Contrasting with export earnings, Togo recorded a negative trade balance of 900.2 billion in 2022, against -373.1 billion in 2012.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Tax Office raised close to CFA1,000 billion in 2023
Last year, the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) collected CFA990 billion in taxes and customs duties. According to Philippe Kokou Tchodie, Commissioner General of the OTR, the tax office had expected it would collect CFA921.1 billion in 2023. He disclosed the figures last week.
The amount collected last year is 14% more than in 2022–CFA852 billion.
The OTR is doing well and is doing everything to overcome its various challenges. These positive results prove it,” said Philippe Tchodie.
This year, the tax office targets CFA1,042 billion, or 48% of the country’s budget for 2024. The latter stands at CFA2,179 billion.
To achieve its goal, the OTR intends to broaden its tax base, streamline the process of delivering land deeds, and better monitor payment of taxes and customs duties.
Esaïe Edoh
Cashew: Togo launches sales campaign for 2024
Togo produced 38,880 tons of cashews in 2023. This is against 22,937 tons in 2019 (+70%). The figure was disclosed by the Interprofessional Council for Cashew in Togo (CIFAT), on March 14. The same day, the country launched its new cashew sales campaign for the year.
While production has grown significantly in the past five years, processing still lags. “From 2019 to 2023 on average 21.28% of the output was processed per year”, said Komlan Gozan, CIFAT Chairman.
“Together, we must strive to ensure availability and quality of cashew products, to meet international standards, to have farmers earn fair amounts, and to create sustainable partnerships with stakeholders in the sector,” he added.
Established in 2016, the CIFAT regroups five associations and federations of stakeholders, the COPAT, the FNCPATOGO, the 3A-TOGO, the ATTA, and the CEFA.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Minister of Trade pleads for structural transformation in LDCs at recent UN Forum
Rose Mivedor, the Togolese Minister of Trade, participated, virtually, in the second UN Forum on the Future of Least Developed Countries. On this occasion, the official called the LDCs to commit to the structural transformation of their socioeconomic sectors.
According to Mivedor, social progress, and economic growth stimulate innovation, and that is why LDCs need to structurally transform their economies if they want to prosper. She spoke during a panel titled “Strategies to accelerate innovation and structural transformation.”
Among others, the Togolese Minister mentioned the country’s current government roadmap which aims to bolster resilience for more inclusive and sustainable growth. “Implementing this roadmap has enabled Togo to develop structural projects,” she said.
At the meeting, all participating countries asked developed countries to implement the Doha Action program. The goal of this program is to help LDCs face COVID-19’s negative socioeconomic impacts and advance toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).