Shea collectors in Togo and Burkina Faso will get from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) $1.4 million to grow their business.

The facility falls under an agreement recently signed by the AfDB and GSA, for a climate resilience project covering both countries. The project is entitled "Towards Climate Resilient Shea Communities in Togo and Burkina Faso," and it will last two years. With the goal of making 7,500 women shea collectors and their communities (more than 30,000 people) less vulnerable to climate change, the project will also help beneficiaries earn more from their shea and beekeeping businesses, as well as improve management practices in the covered communities.

In detail, the GSA and AfDB will respectively provide $400,000 and $996,700 for the project. The money provided by the AfDB will come from the African Climate Change Fund.

Besides funds, the project will include training in cooperative development and business management, conservation equipment for shea cooperatives, training in beekeeping and park management, and training in tree planting and natural regeneration.

"This project in Togo and Burkina Faso will build community resilience and help address the root causes of gender inequality and climate change impacts in the project area. Addressing gender inequality is central to the fight against climate change in Africa," said Rita Effah, coordinator of the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) at the AfDB.

"While the GSA is doing a lot to mitigate these problems and diversify women's sources of income in the shea sector, we are happy to get more support through this project and to work with the African Development Bank Group to provide gender-responsive and transformative solutions for climate resilience," said Simballa Sylla, President of GSA.

The GSA is a global organization of shea producers whose goal is to improve the living conditions of shea producers in West Africa and promote the sustainable use of this resource. It currently recruits service providers for the project.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

About a week ago, the Togolese government revealed that its stake in Togo Terminal went from 5% to 30%. This is the fruit of a highly-anticipated deal between Lomé and the terminal’s owner, MSC, ending a four-year-long legal dispute between the two sides. 

Commenting on the deal, the Council of Ministers of Togo said it “welcomes this win-win agreement that is proof of a mature partnership between the two actors". In addition, the Council added that it appointed two additional directors to the Terminal’s board.

For the Togolese authorities, the stake increase “paves the way for new investments and new partners” which will contribute to the port of Lomé’s development.

Operated by MSC, the Togo Terminal processes the most significant volume of containers in Togo, after the Lomé Container Terminal (LCT). The latter is also operated by MSC, via its subsidiary, Terminal Investment Limited (TIL). 

The Togo Terminal has been active since 2001 and is a major actor in the port of Lomé. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo will close another operation on the WAEMU market next Friday, March 10. The operation, a simultaneous issue, is the first for this month and the fifth this year. 

The coming operation is an issue of fungible treasury bonds and fungible treasury bills. With it, Togo hopes to secure CFA25 billion from regional investors. 

According to the issue note of the market, the bonds have a nominal value of CFA10,000, a maturity period of 5 years, and an interest rate of 5.7%. As for the bills, their nominal value is CFA1 million, and they will mature over 91 days. They have multiple interest rates.   

So far this year, Togo has raised CFA94 billion on the WAEMU market. That is out of an annual target of CFA574 billion. The funds serve to finance the country’s budget for the year; the latter stands at CFA1,957 billion (expenditures and revenues).

Esaïe Edoh

The Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) raised its benchmark rate, again, by 25 points to 3.00%. The lender announced the increase on March 1, after its Monetary Policy Committee meeting, at its headquarters in Dakar.

The benchmark rate is the rate the Central Bank lends to commercial banks in the sub-region. By increasing it, the BCEAO aims to stifle inflation. "This increase, which is the first of this year 2023, and the fourth since June 2022, is part of the gradual normalization of the monetary policy of the Central Bank. It should help bring inflation within the Central Bank's target range (1% to 3%) over the medium term," BCEAO said.

Indeed, inflation in the WAEMU remains high though it started reducing–from an average of 7.0% in December 2022 to  6.0% in January 2023. "The observed decline was supported in particular by the good results of the 2022/2023 agricultural season, as well as by the monetary policy measures taken by the Central Bank and the efforts of the States to curb the high cost of living." 

That said, the inflation rate was above 7.0% in January 2023 in several countries of the Union, including Togo.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

South Korea spent CFA2.98 billion between 2019 and 2022 on an education program deployed in Northern Togo. The funds were disbursed through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). 

In detail, the money was invested in various projects implemented in the Savanes Region. These included projects to improve hygiene and sanitation conditions in the area, and supply individual learning materials.

KOICA also financed the construction of boreholes in schools and health centers, consequently providing clean water to around 50,000 people living in this part of the country which is exposed to terrorists. 

The project to which the KOICA contributed is called "Improving equitable and sustainable access to quality education for all children in northern Togo." It recently ended and was reviewed last Tuesday, Feb 28.    

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo will soon have a National Land Use Strategy (SNAT). Last Tuesday, Feb 28, Prime Minister Tomegah-Dogbe kicked off its elaboration in Lomé. 

The SNAT will help map out the country’s disadvantaged areas and enable the government to invest in their development, matching their realities and needs.

The plan will also foster the intensification of social programs across the country. Such programs include the Social Safety Net and Basic Service (FSB) project, which is being extended to the Greater Lomé area, and the school canteen project, which should also be extended to other parts of the country.

"Thanks to the SNAT, we will be able to tackle concrete issues such as refining school and health maps, improving road infrastructure coverage, and facilitating the development of productive activities by exploiting the potential of each region," the Prime Minister said.

The SNAT’s elaboration aligns with the government’s ambition to bolster decentralization and improve its land use planning strategy, in connection with the National Land Use Planning Policy (PONAT).

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese parliament unanimously passed, on Feb 28, a new law that prohibits the development, production, stocking, and use of chemical weapons in the country. Also, the law attaches the National Authority for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (ANIAC) to the Presidency.

According to Prof Moustafa Mijiyawa, minister of health, the adoption marks a "critical development" for Togo. The new law, other officials claimed, provides the ANIAC with the necessary resources to effectively perform its role.

In effect, the law will help prevent the re-emergence of chemical weapons in Togo, through a continuous monitoring mechanism, a plan to protect the population and the environment against chemical weapons, and the possibility of receiving international assistance and expertise in the event of a chemical attack. It should have a significant impact on Togo's efforts to promote peace and security in the region.

The new law is complementary to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Togo ratified in 1996. Togo is one of the 52 African countries (out of 54) to have ratified this Convention.

Sandra Ablamba Johnson, the Secretary General of the Togolese Presidency, won on Feb 17 the Gold Medal of the 'Universal League of Public Good'. This is an NGO attached to the UN since 1949 and focused on the promotion of public action and humanitarian values.

A linchpin of Togo's public administration since her appointment in 2020, Johnson received the award in Paris for her contribution "to the creation of positive values related to work as well as to the improvement of public services", and "to making Togo attractive to foreign investment in recent years".      

"This award,” Johnson said during the ceremony, “encourages me to better serve my fellow citizens and humanity as a whole.”

Sandra Ablamba Johson is an economist who worked for the IMF and the World Bank. Before becoming Secretary General of the Presidency, she was in charge of the Business Climate Unit set up by the Togolese authorities. Last December, she won two African awards for her work to improve the image of Togo as a business haven. 

Octave A. Bruce