Togo First
Foreign Investment: Togo secured over CFA43 billion in Q4 2022
In the last quarter of 2022, the Togolese Approval Committee examined 13 projects and approved 12 of them, for a total amount of CFA43 billion. Several sectors have attracted investment, notably the textile industry, wood and construction, agribusiness, mechanics, and services.
Foreign direct investments contributed 99% of the total amount of approved projects, with Indians and Singaporeans as leading investors; they spent CFA11 billion respectively, on four and two projects. Only one Chinese project was approved for an investment of CFA172 million. Only a small percentage of the approved projects were domestically financed, thus underscoring the need to bolster domestic investments.
Regardless, the government is happy with the performance and stressed how important investments are for Togo’s economic growth. Last December, the Ministry of Investment Promotion announced that the country had accumulated 24 new investment projects–valued at CFA107.1 billion, by the end of Q3 2022. Ten (10) out of the twenty-four (24) projects were admitted to the Free Zone regime, and 14 aligned with the Investment Code. This is proof that more foreign investors are seeing Togo.
In 2020, FDIs to Togo soared 85% YoY, from CFA191 billion to CFA352.5 billion. In 2021, 38 projects were approved for a total planned investment of CFA277 billion, consequent with the opening of the Adétikopé Industrial Platform (PIA).
It is worth stressing that investors invest mostly in the Maritime regime for now. Therefore, the government should increase its efforts to attract them to other parts of the county.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: ANASAP and Lacs 1 municipality get new equipment worth about CFA300 million, under the WACA ResIP
In Togo, the National Agency for Public Health (ANASAP) and the Lacs 1 Municipality just received new equipment worth CFA315 million. The equipment was provided by the West Africa Coastal Zone Resilience Investment Project (WACA Resip) on March 7.
The handover ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Project Management Unit. Key figures present included Koffi Aoufoh Dimizou, Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment, Assimiou Adou Rahim Alimi, Coordinator of the WACA Program in Togo, and Alexis Aquereburu, Mayor of the Lacs 1 municipality. There were also representatives of the ANASAP, notably its Secretary-General, Adjowa Ekpetsou.
The equipment comprises a beach cleaner, trucks (tipper and emptying machine) worth about CFA120 million, for the municipality; and two beach cleaners, worth CFA175 million, for the ANASAP. There was also computer equipment worth CFA21 million, for the National Environmental Management Agency (ANGE).
"The WACA project intervenes in five areas, including the fight against pollution. Through this component, we work with ANASAP to clean the beach, and with the City Council of Lakes 1, for the management of solid and liquid waste. That’s the reason for getting this equipment, to keep Lomé’s beaches clean and do the same for the roads of the Lacs 1 municipality," said Assimiou Adou Rahim Alimi, Coordinator of WACA in Togo.
Delighted beneficiaries
The mayor of Lacs 1 said the equipment “will help us create optimal sanitary conditions for our citizens”, adding that since municipalities do not have the means to purchase these machines, “this support rejoices us”.
ANASAP’s SG, Adjowa Ekpetsou, also welcomed the gift saying it “comes at the right time”. The beach cleaners, he emphasized, “will allow us to work more efficiently”. This task (ed. note: beach cleaning), up till now was done manually, Ekpetsou noted.
Backed by the World Bank, WACA ResIP was launched in 2018 in Togo. The Bank invested about CFA1.12 billion in the project which fights pollution along the West African coast.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Entrepreneurship: FAIEJ trained nearly 5,500 youths in 2022
In Togo, the Support Fund for Youth Economic Initiatives (FAIEJ) has trained nearly 5,500 young entrepreneurs and contributed to the creation of 3,500 jobs in 2022. The Fund itself recently disclosed the figures.
Since it launched, the FAIEJ, a public mechanism that fosters the socio-professional integration of youths, has supported around 30,000 youths and at least 3,600 projects. From its launch to the end of June 2021, it has loaned CFA4.521 billion.
The FAEIJ is not the only project that supports youth employability in Togo. There are also others like the Grassroots Development Support Program (PRADEB in French). The latter recently came to an end and over the decade it existed, it helped create around 9,000 jobs and granted over CFA2 billion in loans. There is also the recently launched SME Development Agency which supports entrepreneurship and youth employment.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Shea: AfDB and GSA support female collectors in Togo and Burkina with $1.4 million
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
In Doha, Victoire Dogbe calls for more support for least-developed countries
In Doha, Qatar, last Saturday, the Prime Minister of Togo, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, asked for more support for the least advanced countries. She spoke at the opening of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5).
The least developed countries, the Togolese leader said, are most hurt by current crises that shake the world –health, economic, climate, and security crises. “These crises destabilize our countries,” she said.
Dogbe stressed also that help from developed countries would allow the least developed ones to “accelerate the impact of the initiatives” initiated to this end by the developed countries themselves.
She then stated that Togo’s GDP has doubled since the previous LDC conference in 2011, leveraging several projects that fall under its 2020-2025 government roadmap. The latter “mainly focuses on inclusion in all its dimensions with biometric identification, the register of persons and households, and health insurance as flagship projects."
Esaïe Edoh
Port of Lomé: Stake of the Togolese government in Togo Terminal rises by 25%
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
WAEMU-Securities: Togo seeks CFA25 billion
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
WAEMU: BCEAO raises benchmark rate to 3% to fight inflation
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
Climate change: Togo bets on GCF support to adapt agriculture
Togolese authorities began developing a concept note for eligibility for the Green Climate Fund on March 1. They plan to raise the necessary resources to finance climate-smart agriculture projects.
Specifically, Togo wants to implement innovative and competitive projects, including modern irrigation systems to increase productivity and reduce environmental impact. This preventive approach, the Ministry of Agriculture explains, will allow the country to resist the effects of climate change on agricultural yields in the years to come. "By 2030, if no adaptation measures are taken, all crops will be affected in Togo," said Konlani Dindiogue, Director of Cabinet of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Togo also seeks to ensure food security for its population through quantitative production. This ambition is the focus of the regional forums of agricultural producers in Togo (FOPAT), which aim to get farmers involved in the process of structural transformation of agriculture.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: South Korea contributed nearly CFA3 billion to an education program in the northern region over the past four years
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