Togo now chairs the Competition Advisory Committee (CAC) of the ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ARCC). The country was picked to steer the Committee last week after the ARCC’s 8th session in Lomé.

Togolese Talime Abe is the CAC’s new chairman. He replaces the Nigerian Boladale Adéyinka. 

Abe and his team will focus on implementing the recommendations of the ECOWAS memorandum on consumer protection. The memorandum was validated at the meeting.

The new chairman and his team will also strive to bolster competition across West Africa in line with ARCC's vision. Emphasis will be on regulating restrictive business practices, state aid, mergers, and acquisitions that do not benefit consumers.

A branch of the ECOWAS, the ARCC was set up in 2008. The Competition Authority regulates competition across the ECOWAS.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo is attending the BIOFACH 2024 fair in Nuremberg, Germany. The international trade fair dedicated to organic products begins on February 13. 

Togolese participants will showcase their organic products and hold B2B meetings. They include mainly MSMEs active in the organic value chain. 

The fair will be an opportunity to forge new partnerships.

The Togolese delegation will help promote the West African country as a producer of organic products and make it more competitive. 

According to the European Union (EU) Commission on organic imports, Togo exported 54,017 tons of organic food products in 2020, against 44,684 tons in 2019. The figures put Togo as the 13th biggest exporter in the world, and 2nd in Africa.

BioFach is the world's largest trade fair for organic food and agriculture. Nearly 2,700 exhibitors and 46,000 visitors from 130 countries attend the event.

Esaïe Edoh

Applications for the next legislative and regional elections must be submitted between February 19 and February 28. The National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) announced the deadline last week. 

Regarding eligibility criteria, the CENI noted that only Togolese by birth, regardless of sex, aged 25 and more on the date of the vote who are registered on an electoral roll are eligible for both elections. According to the CENI, candidates must be able to read, write, and speak the official language.

For aspirants to the Regional Council, "they must have been resident in Togo for at least six months " before the election date.

The Electoral Commission also recalls that deputies are elected by blocked list ballot with proportional representation. In contrast, Regional Councillors are elected by direct universal suffrage, by blocked list ballot with proportional representation.

This is the 12th time Togo is holding legislative elections, while the regional elections are a first in the country's political history.

Esaïe Edoh

The government of Togo is restructuring its National Solidarity Agency (ASN). The Council of Ministers reviewed and issued a decree to this end on February 8. This decree is the seventh issued to restructure the Agency for more efficiency. 

Among others, the new decree will enable the ASN to implement reforms that will bolster its actions in the field. It will also allow the Agency to have governance bodies that match its status as a public social body, with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy.  

In October 2023, the Agency took a step towards its overhaul as spurred by President Faure Gnassingbé. 

The National Solidarity Agency was created in 1992. It oversees and implements Togo’s solidarity strategy and mechanisms. The latter targets the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people. The Agency, however, has been facing management and operational issues for some time now, thus the need for restructuring.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are still in talks over the deployment of the next Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The deal for the package was sealed last December. 

According to the agreement, Lomé should receive $390 million from the Bretton Woods institution over 42 months (3 and half years). Togolese authorities plan to use the funds to consolidate their achievements, in the social arena especially. 

In this regard, the latest Council of Ministers noted: "The Head of State has instructed the government to consolidate national development gains, keep up current achievements, and focus on meeting the needs of the people."

Ahead of the ECF’s deployment, Togo prepares several reforms, notably relative to taxing and budgetary discipline. A set of commitments that can potentially be in tension with a stronger social policy.

The upcoming ECF should take into account the Togolese people’s expectations following the coming elections-regional and legislative. After the polls, scheduled for April 13, the government plans new budgetary goals, aligned with the general policy statement.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo will carry out its next issue on the West African Economic and Monetary Securities Market (UEMOA Titres) on February 16, 2024. The Togolese Treasury will seek CFA25 billion through the operation, a simultaneous issue of fungible bonds and bills (OATs and BATs).

In detail, Lomé will seek CFA10 billion via the BATs and CFA15 billion through the OATs. The former have multiple interest rates, mature over 91 days, and have a par value of CFA1 million. The latter mature over 3 years at a rate of 6.15% per annum. Their par value is CFA10,000. 

Lomé will use the proceeds to finance its 2024 budget which stands at CFA2,179 billion.

This year, Togo plans to raise CFA607 billion on the UEMOA market. It has secured CFA52 billion so far.

Esaïe EDOH 

Togo will hold its next regional and legislative elections on April 13, 2024. The government set the date during its latest Council of Ministers, on February 8. 

According to the Council’s report, the electoral campaign should begin on March 28 and end on April 11. Members of the national security forces will vote on April 10, according to the same source. 

For the coming elections, candidates running for a deputy seat must deposit CFA500,000, and those running in the regional elections must deposit CFA200,000. Those running in both elections pay half of these amounts, in line with Article 225 of the electoral code.

The government has set up a special task force to make sure the elections are smooth. Known as the FOLSER, it regroups members of the gendarmerie, the police, and the operational reserve. 

For these elections, the electoral code was updated, pushing up the number of deputies who would be elected from 91 to 113. In total, 4.2 million people should vote, according to data from the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese government will set up a security task force to ensure that the coming regional and legislative elections are smooth. The Council of Ministers adopted the decree establishing this task force, known as the FOLSER, on February 8. 

The FOLSER regroups members of the National Police, the National Gendarmerie, and the Operational Reserve. They will be deployed across the country during and after the elections. 

Under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and the operational command of the Ministry of Security, this force will be organized on a decentralized basis, taking into account the security forces' territorial coverage plan. The government, however, noted that its structure can be amended if needed.

Togo recorded a fish output of 24,229 t in 2023. This is 30% more than in 2020 –18,658 t. The figure was disclosed by the Ministry of Fishing and Maritime Economy.

Last year, 15,700 t of fish were caught using artisanal means, against 11,711 t in 2020 (+34%), and 128 t through maritime trawling (against 85 t in 2020).

Meanwhile, inland fishing production rose from 6,132 tonnes to 6,734 in 2023 over the period reviewed. Similarly, fish farming produced 1,568 t in 2023, compared to 730 t in  2020.

The government, through several actions and projects, contributed to the improvements. For example, they set up a new fishing port in Lomé and launched, in 2022, the Aquaculture Development Project (PDAT). 

The government also increased its budget for fishing and aquaculture, from CFA1.1 billion in 2023 to CFA2 billion in 2024.

Fishing contributes nearly 4.5% of Togo’s GDP, according to the Ministry of Economy’s latest data. The sector employs over 2,000 people. 

Esaïe Edoh