Togo recorded an inflation rate of 6.0% in October 2023, against 6.2% the month before. The data was published by the country’s Institute for Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED). The general price level in October decreased by 2.0% compared to July 2023, quarterly. This is mainly due to the regression of the "Food products and non-alcoholic beverages" consumption function index (-6.7%).

However, some categories recorded price increases, notably "Restaurants and Hotels" (+2.1%), "Education" (+3.8%), and "Clothing and Footwear" (+0.7%).

This was mainly due to price increases in several categories, including "Food products and non-alcoholic beverages" (+1.0%), "Restaurants and Hotels" (+2.0%), "Education" (+3.9%), "Miscellaneous Goods and Services" (+0.3%), and "Leisure and Culture" (+0.5%).

The general price level rose by 5.0% compared with October 2022.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé has been in Dubai since November 29 with many other world leaders for the ongoing COP28 summit. The event started on November 30 and will end on December 12, 2023.

As soon as he arrived, Gnassingbé met his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed El Nayan. They reviewed their countries' bilateral relations and discussed possible cooperation opportunities in strategic sectors.

Read also: Ahead of COP28, Togo unveils its priorities regarding climate change

Togo has its own office and pavilion at the event’s venue. There, the West African delegation seeks new partners and showcases various projects and initiatives in agroecological practices and water management. The delegation also highlights the country's policy of building a climate-resilient, low-carbon economy.

The COP28 offers African nations a chance to defend their interests, regarding climate change and climate justice. This year, these countries call out polluting countries on their 2009 commitment to provide $100 billion a year in climate financing up to 2020. They also demand more support to boost their clean energy output–wind and solar especially– to meet their needs. Almost half of the continent’s population, 600 million people (out of 1.4 billion), does not have electricity.

Other issues Africa brings to the table include introducing a carbon tax and restructuring the international financial system for fairer access to the investments needed for sustainable development. African countries also want to be less dependent on fossil fuels and boost local processing of raw commodities.

BOA Togo, a subsidiary of the Bank of Africa Group, recently announced a CFA15 billion financing to empower local businesswomen. The lender inked last Wednesday, Nov. 29, two partnership agreements with two associations: The AFCET and LIM IMPACT. 

The AFCET regroups Togo's women entrepreneurs while LIM IMPACT promotes equal opportunities for the Togolese youth and women. 

The AFCET will receive CFA1 billion to help its members expand within and outside Togo’s borders. LIM IMPACT will use the remaining CFA500 million to support its activities. 

Commenting on the package, Valentine Sama, boss of the AFCET, said: “This is an opportunity for our sisters to develop innovative projects and increase their impact on the local economy.”

According to Youssef Ibrahimi, MD BOA Togo, the two agreements will cover a year and could be extended.

The financing came from a $60 million facility that the BOA Group obtained from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to cover half of the risks on a $120 million loan portfolio. With the IFC facility, BOA will support SMEs in eight African countries, including Togo. Half the funds are earmarked for women-led businesses and projects to combat climate change.

Esaïe Edoh 

There has been a major change in the shareholding of Netis Group, the telecom group that provides fiber optic for Canalbox (GVA) and Togocom in Togo.

Netis’ majority stakeholder, Enko Capital, confirmed it sold its stake in the group to a consortium of investors. The latter include Amethis, the investment fund connected to the Rothschild family, Africinvest, the equity firm, and other big names like the AFD’s Proparco and the World Bank’s IFC.

Launched in 2009, Netis currently covers 14 countries, including Togo. In 2018, Enko Capital joined the group’s capital, accelerating its growth and pushing it among the top fiber optic designers and builders in Africa.

Netis has been operating in Togo since 2017. It provides fiber optic to Canalbox (GVA) and Togocom. The two rivals are the only firms that offer this service in the country.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Togo hosted the 37th session of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Council this week.  The meeting focused on the program’s implementation in participating countries.

The EIF was created in 1996 to help least-developed countries implement trade-related projects. Among others, it finances high-potential commodity chains such as soy, shea, and cashew nuts.  Togo joined the Framework in May 2008. 

According to the CIR, since joining it, the West African member has progressed on various fronts. For example, its production of soy, shea, and cashew has grown substantially over the period.

“Production has risen substantially, from 25,000 tonnes in 2015 to 300,000 tonnes in 2022, an increase of over 1000%,” said Abé Talim, who heads the EIF’s focal point in Togo.

The Togolese minister of grassroots development, Myriam Dossou-d'Almeida, attended the meeting in Lomé. On the occasion, she stressed the country’s need for support, to ensure “the consolidation and sustainability of the program’s achievements”. “The training and approval of other Category 2 projects on the competitiveness of Togolese products, notably sesame, tomato, and cassava, are essential for the future.”

Ahead of the session, Togolese Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, received on Nov. 28 an EIF delegation to take stock of the Framework’s actions in Togo.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé was in Astana, Kazakhstan, on an official visit on November 28. There, he met his counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and the two discussed bolstering the bilateral cooperation between their countries.

The two states will, concretely, enhance their economic relationship, focusing on the mining, digital, cultural, and agricultural sectors.

Gnassingbé presented his host with Lomé's economic development strategy, essentially based on public-private partnerships. He also mentioned the country’s favorable business climate, effective agricultural policy, and improvements relative to digitalization.

"Our government roadmap, which enshrines our development vision, relies on the private sector to finance 50% of the necessary investments. And the private sector will only come to invest if it finds an environment favorable to investment," Faure Gnassingbé told President Tokayev. 

President Gnassingbé also highlighted the climate of peace and security in Togo.  "We are very attached in our country to peace and tolerance. And in this area, for a long time, our country has set an example despite the menace of terrorism and the sometimes communal conflicts to which our sub-region is prey,” he said.

For President Tokayev, the time is ripe for getting closer to Togo since Kazakhstan is currently on a rapprochement mission with African countries.

"Our countries are far apart, but we are ready to undertake multi-sectoral cooperation. We have many opportunities to strengthen our partnership in trade, agriculture, culture, technology, mining, education, and other areas," said the Kazakh president.

The two leaders plan to sign basic bilateral cooperation agreements, create a framework for consultation and exchanges "and stimulate their mutual development and partnership mechanisms in the environmental field".

Presidents Gnassingbé and Tokayev had a call last October.

Esaïe Edoh

The Kara University launched an online course on volunteering and citizenship on November 27, 2023. The project was launched in Kara, in partnership with the Togo Volunteer Agency (ANVT). 

The course includes three modules: civic engagement; volunteering and development; and equity, gender and inclusion. They will be delivered in hybrid mode.

According to the two partners, the project aims to provide enrolled students with key volunteering skills and civic values "so that they are prepared to play an active role in the development of Togolese society".

"We aspire to see both national and international volunteers and learners emerge from this training with a renewed vision of their role in society, not only armed with technical skills but also imbued with the profound values of citizenship and commitment to solidarity", said ANVT DG Omar Agbangba.

Students who take the course will receive in-depth knowledge of the institutions of the State and crucial information on their rights and duties to participate fully in the public life of the country.

In addition to Kara’s students, local and foreign volunteers can take the free course.

The recently launched course is the fruit of a partnership concluded in 2020 by the ANVT and the University of Kara. The partnership’s goal was to enable the university’s students to learn civic values, helping them become more employable after graduating.

Esaïe Edoh

Lomé hosted on Monday, Nov. 27, a B2B meeting between some major German firms and young Togolese entrepreneurs. The German side regrouped representatives of big companies, like Bosch and Siemens. With the Togolese side, they discussed opportunities for investments and partnerships. The meeting was organized by the Togo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI Togo) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

"The Togo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and UNIDO have agreed to organize this meeting between economic operators from Togo and those from Germany, who have made the trip just for this," said Nathalie Bitho, acting president of the CCI-Togo. "Togo, and its economic operators, in particular, are looking for partnerships and want to develop networks with which to work. We are therefore taking advantage of the age-old relationship between Togo and Germany, taking into account the quality and expertise of the German service, to enable Togolese companies to benefit from it".

"We have come from Germany because we strongly believe that Togo is an excellent platform for investment. We have come with a delegation of German companies, from Siemens to Bosch, mainly active in the fields of agriculture and energy, because these are areas of the future where your country and ours can work well together”, said Prof. Rolf Steltemeier, of UNIDO's Investment and Technology Promotion Office (IPTO) in Germany.

Facilitating external relations

On the sidelines of the meeting, the CCI-Togo announced it will set up an office to facilitate similar events in the future, and to connect local businesses with foreign companies. "For economic operators who are not present today and who would like to get in touch with these German companies who are here, and perhaps even those who are not here, the CCI-Togo now has a dedicated service to put Togolese economic operators who so wish in touch with their counterparts in these brotherly and friendly countries", said Nathalie Bitho.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A delegation of Togolese private and public economic operators and German business leaders from the Groupement Mittelstand BVMW held a mini-business forum in Berlin on November 21. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the fourth G20 Compact with Africa Summit. 

At the mini-forum, the Togolese side, which was led by the Ministers of Trade and Energy, Kayi Mivedor and Mila Aziablé, presented the country’s economic opportunities, in the energy, mining, agro-industry, and logistics sectors, especially. From the Germans, they discovered their expertise in the energy, agro-industrial, and logistics sectors.

Based on the exchange, both parties are already considering partnerships to penetrate new markets.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo's President, Faure Gnassingbé, expects the country’s next elections to be held “no later than the end of the first quarter of 2024”. The deadline was disclosed last Saturday, Nov.25, at the Council of Ministers.  The meeting’s focus was the progress of preparations within the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), in particular the finalization of the electoral roll, which now counts 4.2 million registered voters.

Initially, the elections should have been held at the end of this year, but the final dates have not yet been announced. According to the communiqué from the Council of Ministers, "the President of the Republic has instructed the government to take, without delay, all measures to enable the next elections to be held no later than the end of the first quarter of 2024". An agenda that takes into account "the persistence of security challenges" and aims to "guarantee all - candidates, voters, and citizens - the necessary security throughout the national territory".

The next elections are the legislative and regional elections. The former will produce new deputies and the second will be organized for the first time, a milestone in Togo’s decentralization process..

Ayi Renaud Dossavi