Togo’s telecom regulator, the ARCEP, is working on a partnership with local municipalities to better protect telecom consumers’ rights across the country. The partnership should soon materialize, according to the watchdog.

The announcement comes after the ARCEP sent a delegation to raise people’s awareness about their rights as telecom users in 10 of the country’s towns. The mission focused especially on the issues of poor service quality, high rates, and mechanisms in place to prevent consumers from being cheated by telecom operators and to protect them against non-ionizing radiation.

The 10 towns visited by the ARCEP’s delegation were Aného, Atakpamé, Bassar, Dapaong, Lomé, Kara, Kpalimé, Mango, Notsè and Sokodé. Alongside the delegation were consumer rights advocacy associations, knowingly the Togolese League of Consumers (LCT), the Togolese Association of Consumers (ATC), and the Martin Luther King Movement (MMLK).

ARCEP said it reached, during the trip, 234 representatives from the 117 municipalities, and over 700 local representatives of the three partner consumer associations.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Over the first half of 2023, the Togolese Treasury has repaid CFA182 billion in debt, contracted via Umoa-Titres. According to data consulted by Togo First, this is 39% more than the amount repaid in H1 2022–CFA131 billion.

In detail, over the first six months of this year, lomé repaid CFA20.33 billion for Fungible Treasury Bills (BAT) and 161.39 billion FCFA for Fungible Treasury Bonds (OAT).

The previous year, the CFA131 billion repaid covered only fungible treasury bonds.

This year, Togo wants to borrow CFA574 billion from the WAEMU market. So far, it has already secured CFA430 billion, which is about 75% of its target.

Esaïe Edoh

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has reaccredited the West African Development Bank (BOAD) at the end of its 36th Board of Directors meeting held from July 10 to 13, 2023, in South Korea. The Fund will thus provide the African lender with resources to fight against climate change in line with its 2024-2027 strategic plan.

The reaccreditation includes more financing for environmental and social projects. In effect, the BOAD could get up to $250 million, or about CFA146 billion, per project for the WAEMU States.

The WAEMU States will receive grants and loans at rates between 0 and 1.75% as well as guarantees, and refinancing lines to fight against the harmful effects of climate change.

"At BOAD, we remain determined to support our member states in financing projects aimed at mitigating the harmful effects of climate change, and to support their efforts towards a decarbonized economic development, in line with the commitments of our strategic plan 2021-2025, one of which is to dedicate 25% of our financing to support our member states in strengthening their resilience to climate change," said Serge Ekue, President of BOAD.

The GCF attributes the reaccreditation to BOAD’s recent investments and performances in areas of interest such as infrastructure, production and access to energy, livelihoods of people and communities, forests and land use, ecosystems and ecosystem services, health, food, and water security.

The Green Climate Fund is a global fund created to help developing countries tackle climate change and its impact, helping them cap or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

Esaïe Edoh

In Togo, non-financial services activities experienced an annual growth of 14.6% in April 2023. This is according to the Economic Situation Report of June 2023 for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). 

The report, which was released by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), indicates that Togo posted the highest annual growth for April, just ahead of Senegal (+7.1%) and Niger (+5.9%).

Overall, within the WAEMU, non-financial services recorded an annual growth of 4.5% in April 2023, compared to 2.5% in March 2023.

As for financial services (related to banking, insurance, investment, and management of monetary flows), the country posted a double-digit growth of 15.9% year-on-year. In the sub-region, Togo ranked just behind Mali (+18.8%), Ivory Coast (+18.6%), and Burkina Faso (+16.4%).

Compared to March, services across the whole of WAEMU decreased slightly -by 0.2%- in April. From February to March, they were up by 2.6%. Financial services, meanwhile, grew by 1.8% in April 2023. They were up by 0.7% the previous month.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Of all WAEMU countries, Togo was the one that recorded the highest growth for bank credit supply–the amount of credit made available by the country’s banks–in 2022. According to the WAEMU’s Central Bank, the BCEAO, the figure stood at CFA1,265.9 billion, against CFA812.9 billion in 2021, or 55.7% more.

The upward trend was extended to the whole WAEMU region, where the volume of credit available rose by 9.9% to 19,539.1 billion. Right behind Togo (+55.7%), the best performers were Benin (+46.6%), Senegal (+10.2%), and Mali (+8.3%).

While the surge was more significant in Togo, in terms of amount, other countries did better than President Gnassingbé’s country. In Benin, for example, the figure stood at CFA1,491.3 billion in 2022. In Burkina Faso, bank credit supply grew by “only” 8.2% over the period reviewed, but the figure stood at CFA2,595.3 billion. The region’s economic powerhouse, Côte d’Ivoire, for its part, recorded a growth of 1.3%, with the figure standing at 6,463.8 billion–Over five times what Togo recorded. 

Good winds didn’t blow on all of the Union’s nations. In Niger and Guinea Bissau, the figure decreased by 3.4% and 22.9%, respectively. In the former, bank loans supplied stood at 730.3 billion CFA and in the latter, they stood at CFA108 billion. 

According to official data, Togo had, last year, 17 credit institutions, including 14 banks (with Orabank, Ecobank, and Coris Bank leading in terms of asset volumes) and 3 financial institutions.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo raised only CFA16 billion on the WAEMU-securities market last Friday, July 14. The country was seeking CFA30 billion through the issue of fungible bills and bonds of the treasury (BATs and OATs in French). 

According to the issue’s report, the bonds or OATs generated CFA14 billion. They mature over 3 and 5 years. As for the bills or BATs, they earned Lomé the remaining CFA2 billion. They mature over 182 days. 

Overall, 28 investors participated in the operation. And though only CFA16 billion were retained, total subscriptions amounted to CFA33 billion, thus representing a coverage rate of 110.94%.

Adding this last issue, Togo has raised CFA430 billion on the regional money market so far this year. This means the country has about 144 billion more to reach its target for the year. 

Esaïe Edoh

A new bus station was inaugurated last week, on July 12, in Kara, northern Togo. The ministers of trade and transport, Kodjo Adédzé and Affoh Atcha-Dédji, both attended the inauguration ceremony. Launched in 2017, the project cost CFA1.2 million. Its goal is to modernize transport in Kara.

“The effective and long-term operation of this bus station will, I am sure, contribute to enhancing the attractiveness of the city of Kara,” said Trade Minister, Kodjo Adedze. The station, according to him, should help “connect producers, processors, traders and consumers of our local products, consequently creating jobs for our young people and women, and improving the quality of life of our citizens.”

Construction was financed by the Togo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI-Togo). The land where the station was built spans 11,250 m². It was provided by the municipality.

The new bus station includes a three-story building housing administrative services and a restaurant. It also has 15 shops of 45 m² each, equipped with storage and integrated toilets. Two other buildings are dedicated to police and civil security services, while a plaza of 2,120 m² has been set up. The infrastructure also has an inner courtyard of over 8,000 m² comprising a shed with five counters, an area that can accommodate more than 200 travelers, as well as a block of latrines for men and women, and an elevated 5 m³ water tank.

During its inauguration, the Trade Minister highlighted that the station will provide workers optimal conditions to work and contribute to the growth of the Togolese economy. For her part, the president of the special consular delegation of the CCI-Togo, Bitho Nathalie, claimed that the facility would boost transport and trade in the Kara region. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo celebrated World Population Day, on July 11, by launching the 2023 Global Population Status Report. Adjovi Lolonyo Apédoh-Anakoma, Minister of Social Action, Women's Protection, and Literacy, attended the ceremony. There were other key stakeholders, such as representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which initiated the report.

Titled "Eight Billion Humans, An Infinite Horizon of Possibilities: Defending Rights and Freedom of Choice”, the report presents the latest demographic perspectives alongside specific challenges.

More than half of the projected growth of the world population by 2050 is concentrated in just nine countries, according to the report. The global fertility rate, which decreased from 3.3 births per woman in 1990 to 2.5 in 2019, is expected to decrease further to 2.2 by 2050.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the population is expected to double by 2050. These prospects revive debates on family planning and demographic dividends on the continent, as well as women's rights.

"Women's bodies should not be used to achieve demographic goals," said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA. "To build prosperous and inclusive societies, no matter the population size, we must radically rethink how we talk about demographic change and plan in this area," she added.

The report also calls for reflection on the use of demographic statistics. It urges policymakers and the media to abandon alarmist discourses on demographic growth and focus instead on the freedom of individuals, particularly women, to make their own reproductive choices.

The Togolese government highlighted its commitment to promoting women's rights and gender equality. Legal reforms have been adopted to strengthen these rights in various areas. Togo accounts for about 0.1% of the world's population, with a population of around 8 million people, of which 51% are women, according to the latest census. The natural population growth rate is projected at 2.3%, with the population expected to double in the next 31 years.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi