The Revenue Office of Togo (OTR) and Gabon’s General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) will bolster their cooperation, consequent with a new deal they signed on March 8. 

The documents were inked in Lomé by Philippe Kokou Tchodié, Commissioner General of the OTR, and Gabin Otha-Ndoumba, Director General of the DGI. 

Specifically, the deal should allow both entities to share their experience and practices, so they operate better and increase the capacities of their agents. A Gabonese delegation should also visit Togo to explore the implementation of electronic tax payment terminals, based on the models put in place for the Motor Vehicle Tax (TVM). 

Gabon is also interested in the Togolese model of the Institut de Formation Fiscale et Douanière (IFFD-OTR), which trains administration professionals in taxation and service management.

Togo has officially launched its Tinga Fund, a fund that facilitates household electrification in the country. The launching ceremony took place on March 9, 2023, in Atakpamé and it was presided over by the Minister Delegate, in charge of mines and energy, Mawunyo Mila Aziable.

The fund leverages subsidies that will allow households to connect to the grid with more ease. Instead of the CFA100,000 fee required to get connected, they will make an initial payment of CFA1,000 CFA to get connected. The remaining CFA99,000 is payable over up to ten (10) years depending on the income of the households.

According to Minister Aziable, this is a "government strategy to ensure the equitable distribution of electricity through reliable, lower cost energy in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner."

The goal of this project is to achieve 100% connection coverage by 2030, and the fund should eventually provide access to electricity for 1,200,000 households in the country.

The project complements other ongoing initiatives including "CIZO" which provides a monthly allowance to households in rural areas.

Regarding the Tinga fund, there was a pilot phase in April 2022 and it covered the Savanes and Kara regions.

Esaïe Edoh 

A delegation of German businessmen, from Bavaria, is on a prospecting tour in Togo. Led by the former Vice President of the Bundestag (German federal parliament), Johannes Singhammer, the delegation was at the ministry of investment promotion on March 9.

The Germans came to explore opportunities existing in Togo, among others. "We expect from the Togolese authorities guidance to see what opportunities to seize," the head of the delegation said.

Industry and agribusiness are the two main sectors targeted, but they are not the only ones. 

"Our wish is that this is the beginning of a series of exchanges that will allow you to settle permanently in Togo," said Rose Mivedor, Togo’s minister of investment promotion. Togo, she stressed, is well located, has several partners, and is a gateway to a market of 320 million consumers.

The German delegation will spend many days prospecting the country. 

Octave A. Bruce

Telecom operator Togocom and Guadeloupe-based company Myditek teamed up to digitize Togolese agriculture and promote precision farming in the West African country. The two signed the related agreement earlier this week.

"Broadly speaking, the idea is to move toward precision agriculture," said Sebastien Luissaint, chairman, Myditek. "Under the partnership with Togocom, we will set up communication antennas throughout the country. These antennas will link our equipment, which will provide agricultural data to farmers and cooperatives," he added.

Specifically, Myditek will connect farms and provide relevant data, such as soil fertility, meteorological data, and aerial imagery by drone, to security systems, infrared, electric fencing, and automatic and connected irrigation systems on the territory.

To do this, Myditek will set up connected objects using around 50 Togocom antennas, spread across the country. The data collected by the systems will enable farmers to better understand their working environment and their land.

Tarik Boudiaf, the acting CEO of Togocom, lauded the operator’s commitment to the digitization of Togolese agriculture. The installation phase of the weather stations is underway nationwide and farmers and agricultural technicians should soon be trained in using these technologies.

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

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 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