Togo has begun preparations for the African Microfinance Week (AMW) which it will host next October. Last month, the Togolese minister of financial inclusion and the informal sector, Mazamesso Assih, and the event’s organizers–African Microfinance Institutions Network (AMIN) and the Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA)-laid the groundwork for the launch.

Set to be hosted in Lomé, the capital, the event should open on October 16 and close on the 20th. Nearly 1,000 inclusive finance professionals are expected. They will mostly discuss challenges faced by inclusive finance in Africa. 

Throughout the AMW, Togo, according to minister Assih, will share its experience regarding inclusive finance with other countries. The financial inclusion rate in Togo increased from 82.72% to 85.72% from 2021 to 2022. This is the best improvement rate recorded by a WAEMU country over the period, according to data released by the Togolese council of ministers on January 18, 2023. In the Union, Togo comes right before Benin (85.52% in 2022), and Côte d’Ivoire (82.2%).

"The 2023 AMW will be a bastion of hope for all stakeholders and an important step in developing and organizing the inclusive finance sector in West Africa," Mazamesso Assih added.

Esaïe Edoh

The ARCEP, Togo’s telecom regulator, received a delegation from its Ivorian counterpart on March 21 and 22. The Ivorian side came to learn from the Togoelse regulator’s experience.

The Ivorian delegation included representatives of the ministry of communication and digital economy, and of the ARTI, which is Côte d’Ivoire telecom watchdog. During their stay, they mainly had workshops with the ARCEP. The latter covered the legal and regulatory framework relating to the quality of service of electronic communications, the methods of organization and conduct of QoS measurement campaigns, as well as the tools and equipment for measuring the quality of service in both countries.

The Ivorian delegation came a few weeks only after another from Comoros, which also came to learn from the ARCEP. With the Comorian delegation, Togo inked a deal to develop a win-win partnership that will address bottlenecks to telecom regulation in both countries.

Esaïe Edoh

Graduates and upcoming students of the IFAD training institutes in Togo should have more ease getting financing to launch their businesses in the coming years. This is thanks to two partnership agreements signed last Wednesday, March 22, at the IFAD of Elavagnon in the East Mono Prefecture. 

The first deal was signed between the Education-Development Agency (AED) and the Ministry of Grassroots Development. It will help all IFAD graduates to secure funds for their professional integration projects.

The second deal is a tripartite agreement between IFAD Aquaculture, the Support Fund for Youth Economic Initiatives (FAIEJ), and the microfinance COOPEC-AD. It will allow the co-financing of business plans of young entrepreneurs.

The two agreements were signed about a month after the graduation of the first cohort of trainees of Elavagnon’s IFAD. The latter provides training in aquaculture.

This cohort was the first to graduate from the IFAD. It included 113 youths–27 young women and 86 young men.

The minister of foreign affairs of Togo, Robert Dussey, was in South Korea last week. 

On the occasion, the two countries reiterated their commitment to deepen their cooperation in key sectors like agriculture, health, education, renewable energy, and ICTs, Dussey reported on his website. 

The Togolese official presented to the Korean side Togo’s 2025 government roadmap. While doing so,  he highlighted the investment opportunities offered by the Adétikopé Industrial Platform (PIA), as well as Togo’s ambition to consolidate its position as a logistics and service hub in West Africa.

Regarding cooperation and support for development, "Minister Dussey also exchanged with the presidents of the Korean Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Korean Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Korea-Africa Foundation as well as with representatives of various Korean companies."

South Korea and Togo have been cooperating for years and the Asian country has been supporting its African partner in several areas, notably technology, agriculture, and education. Earlier this year, Seoul mobilized about CFA3 billion to advance education in the Savanes region, northern Togo.

Two days ago, on March 26, President Faure Gnassingbe urged his staff to speed up the implementation of projects falling under the government’s 2025 roadmap. The Togolese Head of State did so at the close of the first annual seminar of the government held last week in Kpalimé. 

"In the current global context marked by multiple crises, we must act on the levers that we have control over. We must do it and we must do it quickly," Gnassingbé declared as the meeting was closing. Accelerating the projects, according to the leader, is “in the population’s interest.”

According to the government’s statement issued after the meeting, the President “stressed the urgency of continuing the collective mobilization by mainly relying on local resources.”

Togo’s roadmap was launched three years ago, which explains the president’s call for accelerating its implementation.

Esaïe Edoh 

Over the past year, more people in Togo’s maritime region have relied on health services. For example, the rate of use of curative care in the region fell from 54% in 2021 to 49% last year, and that of assisted childbirth rose from 67% to 73.5%.

The figures were reviewed last week during a workshop held in Tsevie. Organized by the region’s health directorate, the meeting took place on March 22-24. 

According to Agence Togolaise de Presse, the workshop aimed to gather various actors in the sector to conduct a critical and constructive assessment of the activities carried out in 2022. The participants also looked at potential actions to integrate into the region’s new health strategy. 

During the workshop, all of the region’s health facilities (public, private, and religious) presented their activities’ results.

Besides the previous figures, the participants also revealed an improvement in the success rate of tuberculosis treatment, from 80% to 84%. It was also indicated that all women who needed a subsidized C-section could have the surgery.

In contrast to these improvements, other indicators such as maternal mortality due to obstetric causes, mortality due to malaria in children under 5, and coverage of health personnel needs at the primary care level, did poorly over the period reviewed. Also, the proportion of maternal deaths reported and audited remained low.

It is worth noting that nearly 3 million people live in the maritime region (2.6 million in 2010) - that is over 40% of Togo’s population.

Togo only raised CFA8.5 billion in its latest issue on the WAEMU market. That is far from its target for the operation: CFA40 billion. 

The operation, a simultaneous issue of fungible treasury bills and bonds closed on March 24. In detail, Lomé raised CFA7 billion via the bills, which mature over 364 days, and CFA1.5 billion via the bonds. The latter mature over 5 and 3 years and the 3-year bonds raised CFA100 million. 

According to the UEMOA Securities, 10 investors subscribed to the issue. They mobilized CFA9.6 billion out of which CFA8.5 billion were retained. 

Including the recent operation, Togo has raised CFA111 billion on the regional money market so far this year. This is against an annual target of CFA574 billion. The funds will finance the national budget. 

Esaïe Edoh

The government of Togo held its first seminar of the year last Friday, in Kpalimé. The 3-day meeting was chaired by President Faure Gnassingbe himself. 

During the seminar, the leader and his collaborators assessed how advanced the key projects of the 2025 government roadmap were and their impacts. 

The seminar was organized in a particular context. Indeed, Togo will hold regional and legislative elections this year. 

The previous seminar was held last September, still in Kpalimé. At the time, participants looked at how advanced some projects were–road, health, urbanism, and investment projects notably. 

Esaïe Edoh