Togo First
Coris Bank opens a new branch in Togo
Coris Bank Togo (CBI-Togo) opened a new branch in Agoè Sogbossito (northwest of Lomé) yesterday, December 22.
According to Alassane Kaboré, MD, CBI-Togo, the recent opening falls under the lender’s strategy to become a reference in the country and help boost financial inclusion. The executive noted that more branches would be opened in the near future.
"No matter what, despite digitalization, there are still people far from our branches. We must continue opening new branches so that everyone can access financial services," Kaboré said.
In addition to expanding physically, CBI-Togo is also expanding its range of services. Yesterday, it launched two new bancassurance products, Coris Auto and Coris Voyage, in partnership with GTA, the insurer.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: National employment Agency to launch digital platform to track labor dynamics in the country
The National Employment Agency of Togo (ANPE) is working on a digital platform dedicated to employment. The platform, which is backed by the UNDP, will collect and make available to the general public and decision-makers data on the local labor market. The project was revealed to the press and the public on December 21, in Lomé.
“It is important for the government to keep track of the evolution of employment, of the number of jobs created, job losses, the number of graduates, and how many people exit the education system,” said Kossi Tsiglo, Director-General of the ANPE. For the agency, the goal is to fill the data gap existing in the country, and tackle issues faced in collecting reliable labor-related data in Togo.
The platform under development will, among others, provide data on the number of jobs created over a given time, and staff movements (voluntary departures, layoffs, recruitments, etc.). It will also get a reliable estimate of the number of graduates who join the labor market and identify jobs that are most in demand. The platform should be operational in a few days.
Togo: Ministry for investment promotion team up with several Togolese embassies to attract more foreign investors
Rose Kayi Mivedor, Togo’s minister for the promotion of investment, had an official meeting with several Togolese embassies yesterday, December 22. Mivedor and her staff were looking to establish a collaboration framework with the embassies to attract more investments in Togo.
Around 30 embassies -including France, England, the U.S, Japan, and India’s- took part in the talks.
"You are the international channels through which these reforms and actions implemented by the government will be relayed to our international partners," said Mivedor, while stressing the importance of "transparency, availability of information, facilitation" in the interactions.
"Our country is open to sustainable partnerships, and an enabling legal framework has been put in place with the PPP law that was adopted in December 2021. The structures of reception, support and facilitation are present and operational. It is this message that I would like you to relay," she added, while assuring that the Investment Promotion Agency and the Free Zone (API-ZF) are pursuing reforms to make things easier for investors and boost trust and transparency between them and public administrations.
"The agency is therefore your go-to source for information, and it ensures that our future partners and investors know about the various investment opportunities that our country offers."
Also during the meeting, the ministry for investment promotion and its operational arm, the API-ZF, briefed participating diplomats on the favorable conditions put in place for foreign investors, as well as on results achieved leveraging technical and financial supports. The MPI’s motive in sharing this information with the embassies was to encourage them to organize activities and spark foreign investors’ interest for Togo.
Regarding the results achieved, in 2021, 38 projects were approved in the Free Zone and under the Investment Code, for a total amount of CFA277 billion–58% of which were FDIs. According to the MPI, sectors that attracted most of the investments were clothing, wood and building, agrifood, mechanics and services.
At the end of September 2021, 24 more projects were approved, totalling an investment of CFA107 billion–81.9% of FDIs and 25.3% as national direct investments (NDIs).
The ministry for investment promotion also presented various Togolese sites that attract investment, notably the Industrial Platform of Adetikope (PIA).
"The PIA stands today because of five investment projects, including three in the free zone and two in the investment code, valued at about CFA125 billion," said Rodrigue Akue-Atsa, adviser to the Ministry of Investment Promotion.
Mivedor’s ministry added that several roadshows, similar to the ones organized in the UK, or with clothing investors at the PIA, are scheduled for 2023, both within and outside the country.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Government examines innovation-focused draft bill
On December 21, 2022, the council of ministers of Togo examined a draft bill that would help the country boost innovation, with a focus on the digital sector.
This draft bill emerges amidst efforts to modernize the Togolese economy and develop digital activities in the public and private sectors, for the good of people and businesses, reads the council’s minutes.
According to the government, the draft bill will be further examined during the next council of ministers, before it is sent to the parliament. The document, the authorities stressed, aligns with their interest in innovation, especially regarding youth and entrepreneurship.
A few days ago, the ministry for grassroots development launched the first edition of Togo Youth Innovation Week. The event, which is set to take place on December 27-30, 2022, aims to bridge youth, innovation, and job opportunities, with a focus on research, science, innovation, and entrepreneurship. “Innovation at the root of a strong, inclusive, and prosperous economy” is the theme picked for the first edition.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo to set up an agency that will ensure the quality of higher education at the national level
Togo will soon have an agency specifically dedicated to ensuring the quality of higher education, the ANAQES. The government adopted a decree in this framework on December 21, 2022, during its Council of ministers.
According to the government, the agency’s main mission will be to coordinate the implementation of the Togolese quality assurance system in higher education and research." Besides, it will “oversee regulation, evaluation, and accreditation in the higher education and research sub-sector”, as well as “promote the culture of quality assessment and insurance.”
"The agency will cover all structures at the national level. So it's not just an agency for Togo's public universities, it's an agency for higher education and research, whether public or private," said Christian Trimua, a government spokesman.
The upcoming agency should also decide on reforms that will be introduced in Togo’s higher education and research sector, especially regarding the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate system. These reforms, and the agency, aim to make sure that the education given in the country matches the needs of its employment markets and development ambitions.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togolese public procurement regulator unveils new reform
In Togo, the public procurement regulator, ARCOP, met with the press and other concerned actors last Tuesday, December 20. On the occasion, the regulator unveiled its new legal framework.
“The ultimate goal is to achieve a better quality of investments, attract more investors in the country, and allow the country to record the best growth performances for the good of the people,” said ARCOP’s director-general during the meeting.
Under the new reform, the ARCOP now covers public-private partnerships (PPPs) and is attached to the Presidency. Also, some of its departments have been transformed or replaced. This is the case of the public procurement provision commission which has been replaced by a cell for public procurement management; the latter is required to have a public procurement expert or specialist.
According to the ARCOP’s boss, the new reform aligns with current standards regarding public procurement.
Besides structural changes, the reform enabled a reduction in the completion time of most procedures. The regulator explained that the change should ensure greater efficiency in the procurement-awarding process and use of investment funds. For example, the average time for awarding contracts, initially 180 days, fell to 90 days. Similarly, the time limit for appeals dropped from 15 working days to 7 calendar days.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo secures €4M financing from AfDB for rural electrification project
After the West African Development Bank (Banque Ouest Africaine de développement or BOAD), it is the turn of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to financially help Togo implement its project to electrify 317 communities with mini-solar grids. The lender announced on December 19, 2022, that it would back the project with €3.73 million (a little more than CFA2 billion).
The financing was approved by the African Development Fund’s board on December 15, 2022, in Abidjan. It includes a loan of €2.73 million at a preferential rate from the AfDB and a $1 million grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).
The facility, according to AfDB, will finance the preparatory phase of the electrification project. Concretely, Togolese authorities will set up mini-grid companies in which the State will inject equity.
Commenting on the provision, Robil Nassoma, director-general of the Togolese Agency for Rural Electrification and Renewable Energies (AT2ER), said it is “a catalyst for private sector financing to make electricity available in the target areas across Togo’s five regions.”
For Daniel Schroth, head of AfDB’s renewable energy and energy efficiency department, the group, through the facility, supports Togo’s vision to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030.
“This project will spur economic growth and reduce negative environmental impact by increasing renewable energy in Togo by catalyzing private sector investment in access to clean, sustainable energy for underserved rural populations in Togo,” he noted.
Esaïe Edoh
Vista Bank looks to invest in Togo, Vista’s boss tells President Gnassingbe in Washington
President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo met with Simon Tiemtoré last week. The latter is the CEO of Lilium Capital, an investment group that owns the Vista banking group. Last week, the two men met in Washington on the sidelines of the second Africa-US Leadership Summit.
Tiemtoré, an American-Burkinabe financier, expressed ambitions to enter the Togolese market during the meeting. “Togo is well-known as a financial hub. We are especially attracted to it, due to its financial achievements. Hence, we must be present there as investors,” the CEO declared after the meeting. “We have shown President Faure Gnassingbe the growth strategy of our banking group, Vista, and our investment group, Lilium Capital, towards the effective consolidation of the ties between the US and Africa,” he added.
The declaration comes as Vista Group, according to some sources contacted by Togo First, could take over Oragroup, a pan-African banking group based in Lome and present in more than 12 countries. At present, Vista Bank is in Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Burkina Faso. The project, our sources indicated, is at an advanced stage.
Meanwhile, Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), a key shareholder in Oragroup remains prudent. Indeed, in November 2020, ECP’s move to sell part of its shares in the pan-African banking group to the Social Welfare Institute – General State Pension Fund (IPS-CGRAE) of Ivory Coast was blocked by WAEMU’s banking regulator. Since then, ECP had been looking to exit Oragroup’s shareholding, alongside its European institutional partners (Proparco, the German Investment Corporation–DEG, and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries–BIO). It is worth noting that ECP’s blocked attempt to exit Oragroup took place after the group’s introduction on the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) in April 2019, representing 20% of its capital.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Stormwater drainage and road-asphalting project begins in Lomé
Construction works for asphalting and stormwater drainage systems in Togo’s Golfe 1, Golfe 2, and Golfe 3 municipalities were launched last Thursday, December 15, by the ministry for urbanism, housing, and land reform. The total cost for the works is CFA28 billion.
In detail, the project involves building a 1.6 km-long underground collector to drain rainwater in the AUBA area (Lomé), asphalting and lighting 4.4 km of road - the Mobutu Boulevard (1.74 km) and the Auxiliadora Street (about 2.67 km).
Besides, gutters with removable paving stones (for draining stormwater) will be built along 14 km of road in the AUBA area, and the following streets will be asphalted and lighted: Boulevard Houphouët Boigny, Avenue Tchaoudjo, Rue des Robinets, Rue des Handicapés, Rue Atlantique and Rue 1 Doumasséssé.
In addition to these, schools will be built in the areas concerned, a fence will be erected around the 4th Lake and a green space will be developed there also. Then, the Golfe 1 municipality will benefit from a sports equipment rehabilitation initiative.
All these projects fall under the government’s roadmap and aim to “boost inclusion and social harmony, as well as guarantee peace”.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo determined to better fight tuberculosis
Lomé recently hosted the 7th annual meeting of the network of anti-tuberculosis programs in West and Central Africa. The four-day meeting started on December 14 and gathered 150 anti-tuberculosis experts from nearly 30 countries.
"We meet to discuss developed projects, assess progress and challenges, and plan for next year, said Prof. Dissou Afolabi, a microbiology expert and executive secretary of the Network. "Tuberculosis is a major public health issue, affecting the most productive segment of the population. If we do not invest in the fight against tuberculosis, we cannot have results at the economic level. That is why we have established this network since 2015 to develop strategies, share experiences and make resolutions to improve the fight in our space," the expert added.
Thus, the meeting’s main goal was to draw strategies that will help Togo better fight tuberculosis. It was launched in the presence of Midamegbe AKAKPO, Director of Cabinet of the Togolese Ministry of Health.
Tuberculosis is a major health issue in Togo. According to WHO, the incidence of the infectious disease was estimated at 36 cases/100,000 population with a mortality of 3.6 cases/100,000 population.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi