The Togolese Minister of Health, Prof. Moustafa Mijiyawa, kicked off the ProSanté III project on March 21. For an estimated budget of CFA10 billion, the project aims to improve the country’s health services and facilities. The components and intervention areas of the project were presented at the launch. 

The previous editions, ProSanté I and ProSanté II, pooled in CFA16 billion in financing. These initiatives, which covered the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, were financed by the German Cooperation.

The past editions helped draw strategies and measures to improve health services in Togo overall and in the Kara region in particular. Seventy health personnel were trained in the process, and various steps were also taken to improve sexual and reproductive health, as well as family planning. Over 240,000 women benefited from these actions.

Between 2021 and 2023, 2,200 kilometers of rural roads have been rehabilitated in Togo, according to official sources cited by Togo First. 

According to the same sources, an additional 2,552 kilometers are currently under construction as part of the national rural connectivity program. Moreover, 1,720 kilometers of rural roads underwent routine mechanized maintenance during the three years reviewed. This is out of 2,478 kilometers targeted in this area.

This year, the government plans to invest CFA53 billion in rural road development projects. This will cover the construction of 1,877 kilometers of rural roads and 2,074 units of infrastructure, mechanized routine maintenance of 1,844 kilometers of rural roads, manual routine maintenance of 4,500 kilometers of rural roads, and the establishment of a database on rural roads.

The recent rehabilitation and construction projects align with the government’s strategy to open up rural parts of the country; a strategy started in 2020. The government hopes to rehabilitate and build 4,752 kilometers of rural roads by 2025.

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese Minister of Women Empowerment and Literacy, Lolonyo Apedoh-Anakoma, was in New York last week for the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68). 

On the sidelines of the session, the Togolese official shared her country’s experience regarding women's empowerment. Togo, it is worth noting is the best in Africa when it comes to promoting women’s leadership. The country earned the title in the World Bank’s 2024 Women, Business, and the Law report. 

The theme of the conference led by Minister Apedoh-Anakoma was “Strengthening the Socio-Economic Resilience of Women and Youth to Prevent Violent Extremism”. The official underscored steps that Lomé took to enhance women’s socioeconomic resilience.

She emphasized that 72% of beneficiaries of the National Inclusive Finance Fund (FNFI), an initiative addressing the financial needs of vulnerable groups, are women. Additionally, 41% of the 840,000 indirect jobs created through the Support Project for Employability and Integration of Youth in Promising Sectors (PAEIJ-SP) are held by women.

Since 2019, Togolese authorities have increased the allocation of public contracts to young entrepreneurs and women from 20% to 25%. Socially, a series of laws have been enacted to bring about significant improvements and beneficial changes for women.

Disclosing her country’s ambitions for 2030, Apedoh-Anakoma said “...the government has taken initiatives to combat poverty and promote women's rights, particularly their economic empowerment and effective participation in decision-making at all levels of the development process."

Esaïe Edoh

Lomé, Togo, currently hosts the 53rd ordinary session of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (IPC-WAEMU). The 10-day session focuses on the Union’s 2023 annual operation and progress report.

According to Togo’s parliament, the meeting aims to enable WAEMU deputies to better understand how the ICP operates and is organized. It also aims to inform them about the economic challenges and development issues facing the Union's member states, so they can help tackle these issues more efficiently.

At the session’s opening, Fonnona Coulibaly, VP of the IPC WAEMU, said the meeting provides "an opportunity to assess the progress made in 2023 and to reaffirm our determination to collectively address the new challenges we will face in the new year."

During these discussions, IPC-WAEMU members will address the renewal of the IPC bureau and sub-committee bureau members for the year 2024. They will also discuss key topics such as the installation of the interim IPC president, the parliamentary seminar on the examination of the 2023 report from the UEMOA commission on the operation and evolution of the Union, along with a note of observations from the IPC, as well as the 2023 annual report on the operation and evolution of the Union.

Togo earns about CFA20 billion per year from exporting cashew and cashew derivatives. Representatives of the sector’s national council, the CIFAT, disclosed the information on March 14, which was the National Cashew Day in Togo. 

According to Agridigitale, which quoted the representatives, every year, between CFA17 billion and CFA20 billion are generated through export, thanks to the sector’s 50,000 stakeholders including 31,500 farmers.”

The data was shared in Kpalimé, in the Plateaux region, where the National Cashew Day was celebrated.  On the same day, the country launched the sales campaign for its cashew and cashew-derivated products.

Last year, Togo produced close to 40,000 t of cashew (38,880 t), up from 23,000 t in 2019. Observers expect the upward dynamic to be maintained this year.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A World Bank delegation is currently in Togo meeting various local stakeholders in the vegetable and poultry sectors. The mission started on March 14 and will end on March 22, 2024. Its focus is to improve the cold chain in both sectors. 

In detail, participants will assess existing cooling infrastructure, and based on their assessment, draw strategies to tackle issues and improve the cold chain. At the end of the mission, a cold chain investment strategy will be drawn as well. 

The mission aligns with the Bank’s Food System Resilience Program in West Africa (FSRP). The program, which benefits from a $50 million financing from the World Bank, should foster food security and help boost agricultural output.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo received nearly a million euros from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) in 2023. The exact amount was €991,960, according to Prof. Kangni Alemdjrodo,  Advisor to the Togolese President on the Permanent Council of La Francophonie. 

The official, who disclosed the information earlier this week, detailed that the funds backed a wide range of projects, educational, and cultural, but also projects for economic and sustainable development.

Over the past year, some of the projects both sides worked on include an economic and commercial mission of the Francophonie in the Eastern Mediterranean, two sustainable development projects in Ogou 1 and Haho (valued at CFA53.3 million), and the "La Francophonie with Elles" initiative. The latter supported four Togolese projects with around CFA107 million.

CFA450 million for public reading

Over the same period, the OIF also supported public reading with over CFA450 million allocated for "the French language in the service of cultures and education." This includes support for the operation, animation, and monitoring of the first network of 12 Centers for Reading and Cultural Animation (CLAC); as well as helping set up the second CLAC network in Togo. 

According to Prof. Kangni Alemdjrodo, the various projects "highlight the vitality and visibility of this cooperation" between Togo and the OIF; a cooperation "which is emerging as a true instrument of support for our development programs."

The OIF implements Francophone multilateral cooperation in 88 states and governments worldwide. The organization was established in 1970 in Niamey on March 20 (under the name of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT)).

This year, for the day of the Francophone, on March 20, the organization picked the theme: “Creating, Innovating, and Enterprising in French”.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Lomé hosts this week a 7-day regional workshop on tax digitalization. Organized by the IMF’s Regional Centre for Technical Support (AFRITAC), the meeting aims to bolster financial and macroeconomic capacities in West Africa, with a focus on digitalization.

Representatives from the eight WAEMU States, Guinea, Mauritania, and experts from the IMF’s Financial Affairs Department and the AFRITAC are taking part in the workshop. The theme is “Digitalization Strategies to Enhance Population Control in West Africa”, and the goal is to help concerned countries enhance their tax base control through digitalization.

At the workshop’s launch, Akou Afidenyigba, the cabinet director of the Togolese Minister of Finance, emphasized Togo’s efforts regarding digitalization. 

Among others, he mentioned the launch of a national strategy for digitalization, in line with the government’s roadmap. The 2025 Togo Digital Strategy includes initiatives like the Novissi cash transfer program and the e-ID Togo project. The former supports the country’s most vulnerable people and the latter aims to provide each citizen with a unique biometric ID number. 

AFRITAC’s West African branch was born in 2003. Based in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), it aims to meet African leaders’ demand for greater technical support. The Centre supports five regional institutions and 10 member States, knowingly: Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal.

Various ministers from Togo and Burkina Faso held a meeting last week in Lomé. The two sides talked about their mutual desire to boost their trade relationship. To do this, they want to focus on fluidifying movement along the Lomé-Ouagadougou corridor. 

On the occasion, the participants identified some roadblocks to this ambition and made some recommendations to overcome them. 

Nous avons, avec mes collègues chargés du commerce, et de l'économie maritime, reçu ce mercredi 13 mars 2024, une délégation Burkinabè conduite par le ministre des transports.

Cette rencontre d'échanges vise à faciliter les transports sur le corridor crucial Lomé - Ouagadougou.… pic.twitter.com/jaPEnrm9OJ

— Affoh ATCHA-DEDJI (@AffohAtcha) March 14, 2024

The stakes are high for Togo since Burkina Faso is one of its biggest trade partners. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Togo (INSEED), Burkina Faso was the country’s second-biggest client in Q4 2023. That quarter, the exports from Togo to Burkina Faso were valued at CFA21.6 billion. 

Before the meeting with the Burkinabe delegation, Togo held a similar meeting with Niger’s officials. The goal was the same: to bolster trade between the two nations.

Esaïe Edoh