As part of the Food for Progress program, Togo will receive $29.8 million from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The funds will bolster Togolese agriculture, overall, and horticulture in particular. The program will be steered by the "Lutheran World Relief" (LWR), a US organization that promotes sustainable agricultural practices.

Already, LWR is looking for top management to roll out the project in Togo, over 5 years.

This is the first time that Togo is receiving financial support under the "Food for Progress" program. However, it is not the first time that it has had support from the USDA. Earlier this month, it secured $33 million from the agency for a school canteen initiative, under the "McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program".

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

This month, the WURI biometric ID project launched the second proof of concept for its enrolment platform.

Scheduled to end on November 4, 2023, this phase of the project aims to enroll at least 2,000 people in the Grand Lomé area, the Maritime, Central, and Plateaux regions. The first proof of concept was carried out from April 20 to May 26, 2022.

In the Grand Lomé, this new phase will be the prefectures of Golfe and Agoè-Nyivé. In the Maritime region, it will cover the chief districts of the Lacs, Vo, Yoto, and Zio prefectures. In the Plateaux and Central regions, it will cover Ogou and Tchaoudjo, respectively.

Among others, the proof of concept tests on the Togo e-ID platform aims to validate the ability of registrars to deploy and configure tools, check QR code compliance, test the autonomy of registration kits and their integration with the MOSIP system (the identification platform), as well as communication and awareness-raising.

The end goal of the WURI project is to issue each Togolese resident with a unique identification number, which will help them interact with the administration and the various public and private entities more easily. It is a five-year project backed by the World Bank ($72 million).

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo and Benin inked on October 18, 2023, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Lomé for the implementation of community roaming between the two countries. The signing followed a two-day meeting on roaming regulation in the ECOWAS. The talks gathered mobile operators from Benin and Togo and the two countries' telecom regulators.

The deal enables Togolese residents traveling to Benin to enjoy the same rates as Benin’s residents for outgoing calls and messages. That is for 30 days. Within the same period, incoming calls and messages will be free.

"Reciprocally, consumers in Benin will also benefit from the same advantages and billing terms for roaming services when traveling in Togo," the regulators of both countries noted.

Under the MoU’s terms, roaming rates have been lowered as well. A minute's call to Togo for a Togolese visiting Benin will now cost CFA90, against CFA1,393 before–thus 15 times cheaper. Likewise, mobile Internet services will be billed at a maximum of CFA2.2 per MB for Togolese consumers visiting Benin, compared with up to CFA8,000 per MB –3,600 times cheaper.

The two countries also agreed to lower the rates for international calls between them.  These are now capped at CFA90 per minute, against CFA225 before.

The deal will come into effect on January 1, 2024.

Esaïe Edoh

A Togolese delegation was in the US last month on a mission to explore private American companies active in the digital sector. The mission was carried out as part of the formulation process for the Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) 'Compact' Program, by the Compact Program's National Coordination for Togo.

During the trip, the Togolese delegation presented the West African country’s vision for the digital, as well as projects that are being drawn with the MCC. Also, the representatives were on the lookout for potential tech partners for Togo.

Among others, the delegation visited companies including Mastercard, Visa, and AmazonBloc Inc. It also held talks with Stanford University, venture capital firms, incubators, and executives from the Port of Los Angeles.

Togo, it is worth noting, became eligible for the Compact Program in December 2022. The country is working on several connectivity projects to overcome bottlenecks in the ICT and energy sectors. According to reliable sources, these projects could benefit from major financial assistance from the US. 

Esaïe Edoh

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Togo launched the "Agricultural Transformation in the Nigerian Federal States and Togolese regions towards Achieving Zero Hunger" project in Lomé last week on Thursday, October 12.

The project carried out in partnership with "AfricaRice and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)", runs for three years and aims to improve agricultural productivity in Togo, and Nigeria.

The project is backed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with a $2 million package. In Togo, it focuses on the rice and cassava value chains and covers four out of the country’s five regions: Savanes, Kara, Plateaux, and Maritime. Ultimately, the project will train 9,000 agents across the two value chains concerned–4,500 per value chain. This will boost agricultural production, strengthen agricultural capacities, and boost productivity, thus helping fight malnutrition and ensure food security throughout the country.

The project began with a strategic review, identifying challenges and proposing solutions to completely eradicate hunger in Togo by 2030. The launch was marked by the screening of a documentary on the strategies put in place by Nigeria as part of "Hunger Zero."

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

One of the main threats to cybersecurity in Togo is the lack of awareness regarding the topic. That is according to the head of the country’s national agency for cybersecurity (ANCy), Cdt. Gbota Gwaliba. The official recently spoke to the media on the sidelines of the launch of the ECOWAS sub-regional hackathon on cybersecurity. 

Main challenges

“The first vulnerability is that the topic of cybersecurity is very new. A lot of companies and administrations don't take these cybersecurity issues into account, often claiming they don't have the budgets,” Gwaliba said, before adding: "Or, they think it's a phenomenon that's experienced much more in Europe or in developed countries."

To tackle this shortcoming, the agency focuses on communication and sensitization. A few weeks ago, it launched an awareness campaign.

"The other issue is that the whole ecosystem, especially the law enforcement part, is not yet sufficiently structured to be able to apprehend cybercriminals because they are very stealthy, they hide (...) So we're asking for everyone's collaboration, to help the police and gendarmerie, as well as those involved in the justice system, to be able to help us get our hands on these cybercriminals who are rampant in our countries."

At the moment, the ANCy is pushing big businesses and administrations to boost their level of maturity, relative to cybercrime, in line with the government’s "decree on essential service operators, essential infrastructures and related obligations”. The agency said it is also working on several technologies, "platforms that will help fight malicious sites, platforms that will help better protect small and medium-sized businesses, as well as startups”.

A five-year cybersecurity strategy in the pipeline

Soon, the ANCy plans to draw a five-year plan for cybersecurity, according to its managing director, Cdt. Gwaliba.

"There are a huge number of projects that we're in the process of implementing. Very soon, the 2023-2027 cybersecurity strategy will be adopted with lots of activities over the next five years."

The ANCy was set up, in 2019, to better protect Togo’s cyberspace and fight cybercrime. Placed under the supervision of the ministry in charge of the digital economy, on the one hand, and the ministry in charge of security, on the other, its operational arm includes Cyber Defense Africa, a joint venture co-financed by the Togolese state and the Polish company Asseco.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

At the 8th World Investment Forum held in Abu Dhabi, Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo, met with Dushyant Thakor, Deputy Executive Director of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

According to the Togolese Presidency, this was an opportunity to explore partnership opportunities between Togo and WAIPA, toward greater investment in the country.

At the end of the meeting, Dushyant Thakor said he was convinced there were opportunities in Togo, and he reiterated the WAIPA’s commitment to supporting the policy of structural transformation of the Togolese economy.

"We shared with the President of the Republic, some examples from different parts of the world. This is, again, a commitment that is just beginning and we will work over the coming months to make Togo a wonderful place to do business and with more investment," he said.

WAIPA is an international organization created in 1995 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), bringing together investment promotion agencies.

President Gnassingbé also received Ziad Alexandre Hayek, President of the World Association of Public-Private Partnership Units (WAPPP), and they talked about mobilizing the private sector to implement the social infrastructure projects of the Togo 2025 government roadmap.