Togo First
Togo: 84% of Investments Approved in Q1 2023 Come from Mauritius and France
Togo greenlit four new investment projects in Q1 2023. According to a report recently released by Lomé, they are worth a total of CFA19 billion.
Three of the projects, valued at CFA18 billion, were approved under the investment code (CI). The last one was approved under Free-Trade Zone status. The projects, the report further indicates, are mainly focused on the sectors of wood/construction, agri-food, and asphalting.
Most of the funds going into these projects are Foreign direct investments (FDIs). Out of the 18 billion approved under the Investment Code, 15 billion comes from Mauritius, while the only project approved in the Free-trade Zone (CFA1 billion) is financed by France.
National Investments
As for national direct investments (NDI), they amount to CFA3 billion, or 16% of the approved projects’ value.
In 2022, the Project Investment Approval Committee approved a total of 36 projects, including 18 under the investment code (CI) and 18 under the free-trade zone status, for a total provisional amount of 150.2 billion FCFA. Among these projects, 24 were backed by foreign direct investments (FDI). The latter contributed 83% of the total value of approved projects last year. The agri-food/agro-industry sector attracted 67% of all FDI.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
CCI Togo: Electoral Commission Members Sworn In Last Week
The members of the Consular Electoral Commission (CEC) were sworn in on June 8, 2023, in Lomé. The ceremony took place at the Court of Appeal.
This 8-person commission will coordinate the consular electoral process, including the preparation and proclamation of provisional results. It will also be responsible for receiving applications from economic operators and registering them on the electoral roll.
The CEC is responsible for organizing the election of new officers of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Togo (CCI Togo). It was set up following the reforms carried out by the Special Consular Delegation, after the Ministry of Commerce suspended the electoral process, as tension mounted between outgoing president Germain Mèba Essohouna, who was running for his succession at the time, and the Togolese Association of Economic Operators (ATOE). The two parties accused each other of not playing fair.
Esaïe Edoh
France Provides Togo €78M for Rural Development Projects
France will provide Togo €78 million to help it open up its rural areas. The financing agreement was signed last week, by Sani Yaya, Togo’s Minister of Finance, and the French Ambassador to Togo, Augustin Favereau.
The funds will be used to build bridges–thus enabling local populations to easily access basic socioeconomic infrastructures, acquire equipment and services, and bolster the government’s agricultural policy.
The French financing supports a project to develop at least 4,000km of rural roads throughout Togo’s five economic regions, in line with Lomé’s 2025 government roadmap.
In detail, the package breaks into a direct loan–€40 million–from the French treasury and a bank loan–€38 million– guaranteed by the French public investment bank, BPIFrance.
The new financing adds to another €30 million that Team Europe disbursed for Togo in May. These funds were provided for the partial financing of the Rural Roads Support Program (PAPR II).
Esaïe Edoh
ECOWAS representatives meet in Lomé to discuss post-floods response in the sub-region
Several civil protection officials of the ECOWAS member States are meeting in Lomé this week to discuss assistance mechanisms for the victims of floods that hit the region in 2022, as well as the regional food and nutrition crisis.
The officials are looking at an effective way to support and help the people affected recover, according to ECOWAS.
The heavy rains that hit several ECOWAS countries last year had a great impact on populations, farms, and livestock. They made things harder for those affected, who were already facing food insecurity, food crises, and climate change effects.
The ongoing meeting aims to determine priorities in the gap between emergency relief and sustainable recovery from floods in member States. Participants will also define how the ECOWAS can bolster support to these States, regarding flood resilience, within the framework of an integrated and multi-sectoral approach.
The meeting takes place in two parts. The first part will focus on the impact of the 2022 floods and ECOWAS’ post-flood strategy to help its States better support the victims. The second part (Thursday and Friday) will focus on the food and nutrition crisis, especially children's malnutrition, and ECOWAS’ efforts to mitigate the issues by improving food availability and nutrition.
The roundtable was opened by the Minister of Security and Civil Protection, Yark Damehame. The Togolese official, on the occasion, praised the initiative of the Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs of ECOWAS. The latter is a sub-regional body that plays a major role in supporting governments in their efforts to improve emergency management.
The Minister also highlighted that the region was hit by devastating rains that plunged vulnerable families into a deep crisis, killing many, ravaging properties, farms, and livestock, and displacing many people.
In Togo, last year’s heavy rains killed five (5) people, left 17 injured and affected 24,889 people–with 6,717 households and more than 2,098 hectares of crops devastated.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Capital Expenditures Up 60% in 2022, YoY
Togo’s capital expenditures stood at CFA610.8 billion in 2022, up 60% from CFA379.8 billion in 2021. The BCEAO, WAEMU’s Central Bank, recently released the estimates.
The funds were spent by ministries on various projects–infrastructure, energy, and transportation projects, among others–and public grants. The increase in capital expenditures translates Lomé’s commitment to fostering Togo’s economic recovery post-Covid.
Togo's capital expenditures stood at CFA394.2 million in 2020, dipped to CFA379.8 million, and went back up significantly last year.
Overall, State expenditures experienced a similar increase, going from CFA1,139.5 billion in 2021 to CFA1,501.6 billion in 2022, up 31%, according to Central Bank estimates.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Trade deficit deepens amid a stronger dollar and higher oil imports bill
Last year, Togo’s trade deficit widened by 24% year-on-year, with the figure standing at CFA514 billion. This unprecedented increase happened despite exports going up, and a stronger dollar against the euro.
Togo recorded a trade deficit of CFA514 billion in 2022. That is 24% more than the previous year. The gap increase was strongly driven by a rise in goods imports. The latter soared from CFA1,202.7 billion in 2021 to CFA1,444.6 billion FCFA, up by 20%.
Oil was the main reason for the situation. Indeed Togo’s oil imports rose from CFA162.8 billion to CFA259.2 billion FCFA, over the period reviewed. Meanwhile, rising global oil prices, and a stronger dollar, put a lot of pressure on Togo's import budget, and this subsequently led to higher at-the-pump prices.
Regardless, the country’s exports increased by 21.89% to reach CFA900.3 billion in 2022. But this was not enough to balance the leap in imports.
Things were worsened by a significant drop (40%) in the balance of services. Usually in surplus, the latter stood at only CFA29.9 billion in 2022. The collapse was mainly attributed to the increase in freight and insurance bill, which is essential for transporting goods. This bill went up from CFA181.6 billion to CFA218.1 billion or 20.07%.
The strong dollar played a key role in the overall situation. By increasing the cost of dollar-denominated imports, notably the oil bill, the dollar's appreciation had a significant impact on the trade deficit. The potential benefits of this appreciation for exports - notably on phosphate, whose sales remained good, and cotton, despite a bad season - were not enough to counterbalance its effects on imports.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Food Production Up in 2022
Togo’s food production rose slightly in 2022 compared with the previous year, according to a report by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).
Production of corn, the country’s most grown and consumed cereal, stood at 977,300 t in 2022. This is 5% more than 2021’s 929.000 t (and 885,000 t in 2020). Production of other cereals, like millet and sorghum, rose as well, though less significantly–from 304,600 t in 2020 to 317,900 t in 2022, up 4%.
Rice output grew by 3.8% over the period reviewed. In detail, Togo produced 171,800 t of paddy rice in 2022, up from 165,500 the year before.
In the tubers category, yam production jumped 5% to a million t in 2022, and cassava’s stood at 1.258 million t, up by 4.5% YoY.
Beans and cowpeas, for their part, rose from 211,900 t in 2021 to 226.5 t in 2022, up 6.8%.
The production of the other crops grown in Togo rose from 2.29 million t in 2021 to 2.48 million t in 2022, up by 8.3%.
Agriculture contributes over 40% of Togo’s GDP, and the sector employs nearly 65% of the working population. Also, 3.6 million ha or 60% of the country’s total land area is arable land.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
WAEMU-Securities: Togo to Carry Out a New Issue, Seeks CFA30 billion, Again
Togo plans to proceed to another issue on the WAEMU stock market on June 16. The country intends to raise, again, CFA30 billion through a simultaneous issue of fungible treasury bonds and fungible treasury bills.
Lomé hopes to get CFA10 billion with the bills and the rest with the bonds. The former securities have a face value of CFA1 million, a multiple interest rate, and will mature over 364 days. As for the latter, the bonds, they have a face value of CFA10,000, and interest rates of 6% and 6.25% on maturities of 3 and 5 years respectively.
The operation’s proceeds will plug Togo’s 2023 budget, which totals CFA1,957 billion. So far this year, the country has raised CFA264 billion on the regional money market. Its annual target is CFA574 billion.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Almost Two Million Saplings Planted on National Tree Day
Nearly 2 million saplings were planted in Togo, on June 1, National Tree Day. The same day, the country kicked off its new national reforestation campaign.
Precisely, the number of saplings planted was 1,915,204. The figure, disclosed by the Minister of Environment and Forest Resources, Foli-Bazi Katari, is 35% higher than that recorded the year before –1.4 million saplings.
Lomé praised all parties that contributed to the improvement: public figures, associations, volunteers, the private sector, individuals, etc., urging them to keep up with their efforts.
For this year's reforestation campaign, the country aims to plant 14 million saplings, almost tripling last year's result. By 2030, the country hopes to have planted 1 billion trees.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Security: Togo Joins Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS
Togo officially joined the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS last Thursday, June 8. This was during a ministerial meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia–a meeting attended by Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
A big thanks to the Global coalition against Daesh who give a warm welcome to the Republic of Togo this day as a new member. Together we are strong. @KSAmofaEN @KSAMOFA @StateDept @SecBlinken https://t.co/46kyFUtLok pic.twitter.com/KXbdYDPtIt
— Robert Dussey (@rdussey) June 8, 2023
Besides Togo’s adhesion to the Coalition, the meeting’s participants talked about the emergence of Daesh/ISIS affiliates in West Africa, the Sahel, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa.
They also approved an Action Plan from the Africa Working Group, adopted last March in Niamey. This is a plan that calls for the mobilization of the Group’s members for greater cooperation to bolster civilian-led counterterrorism capacities and strategic communication in African countries.
We are pleased to welcome the Republic of Togo ?? as the 86th member of the Global Coalition against Daesh. Togo's membership is a welcome step in advancing regionally-led efforts to halt Daesh's influence and activity in Africa. #OneMissionManyNations pic.twitter.com/QHXn5LZHiy
— The Global Coalition (@coalition) June 8, 2023
Togo, let’s emphasize, has recently faced some terrorist incursions in its northern region near the Sahel. Joining the Coalition should enable the country to enhance its security measures and security-oriented partnerships. It should also draw more support from partners like the European Union, Germany, and other sub-regional countries.
The Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS regroups over 80 governments and organizations. A US initiative, the Coalition fights the terrorist organization through military efforts, but also focuses on counter-propaganda, tackling terrorism financing, and fighting foreign terrorists.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi