Togo First
Togo: PM launches a project to rehabilitate the N°14 National Road
Construction and rehabilitation work on Togo’s N°14 National Road began on January 23, 2020. They were launched by the country’s PM, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, at Birini-Doubouidè, in the Tchaoudjo prefecture (340 km north of Lomé).
The cost of the project is CFA68 billion and it is backed by UK Export Finance which provided a CFA50 billion guarantee for its execution. British firm Hitech Construction Africa Limited is in charge of the works, and African Ways/Mys Idee is in charge of monitoring them.
The road concerned spans 86 km and goes from Sokode to the border with Benin, passing through Tchamba and Kambole. Its rehabilitation will reduce travel time and transportation costs on the axis. It will also improve access to medical, administrative, and teaching facilities and markets. "This road allows our country to play its role in trade between ECOWAS countries and particularly between Benin and Togo," said Zouréhatou Kassah-Traoré, Minister of Public Works.
The launch of the works takes place three months after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Togo and UKEF for the guarantee supporting the project.
Esaïe Edoh
Financial Inclusion: Togo leads the race in the WAEMU
Togo currently leads the financial inclusion race in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). In 2021, the country recorded a financial inclusion rate of 85.72%, 3 percentage points more than in 2020. This put Togo ahead of Benin (85.52%, 2nd) and even Ivory Coast (82.2%, 3rd) which is the WAEMU’s biggest economy.
The figures were disclosed last Wednesday, during the Togolese council of ministers, by Mazamesso Assih, minister for financial inclusion.
According to the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO), Togo also had the best extended banking rate (which integrates banking and microfinance activities) in the subregion–84.18%. This is against 80% in 2020.
The strict bancarization rate was also up, from 26.95% in 2020 to 30.09% in 2021. However, Togo came second in this area, behind Benin (34.73%), and before Ivory Coast (26.11%).
Togo’s improvements regarding financial inclusion are attributable to its “national financial inclusion strategy”, adopted in 2021. This plan aligns with efforts initiated in 2014 and led to the creation of the National Fund for Inclusive Finance (FNFI).
Since its creation, the Fund has loaned CFA106 billion in microcredits, with an overall repayment rate of nearly 94.45%, according to the minister for financial inclusion.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
WAEMU securities: Togo eyes CFA35 billion for coming issue
On 27 January 2023, Togo will carry out its second issue on the WAEMU securities market. The country will attempt to raise CFA35 billion via a simultaneous issue of fungible treasury bonds and securities.
The bonds have a nominal value of CFA10,000, maturing over 3 and 7 years. Securities for their part have a nominal value of CFA1 million, maturing over 182 days.
According to the issue’s terms and conditions, proceeds should help Togo meet its budgetary needs, in a context where the budget for 2023 stands at CFA1957 billion.
For its first issue this year, Lomé raised CFA16 billion on the WAEMU market, but its target was CFA30 billion.
In 2023, Togo plans to secure CFA574 billion from the regional money market.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Artisanal fishing output up 50% in 2022, YoY
Togo’s artisanal fishermen caught 6,687,015 kg of fish last year. Thus, 50% more than in 2021: 4,129,423 kg.
The figures were reported last Thursday, Jan 19, by the ministry of fisheries. The output consolidates the sector’s growth; in 2020, artisanal fishing produced 3,450 t of fish.
The ministry attributes the growth to the “opening of a new fishing port and fish market in Lomé, and better working conditions for fishermen and fishmongers.” The source also mentioned the arrival of new fishermen-local and foreign.
In Togo, the fishing sector employs over 20,000 people and contributes to nearly 4.5% of the GDP, according to the most recent data provided by the ministry of fisheries.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Government expects economic growth of 6.6% in 2023
Togo should record economic growth of 6.6% (real GDP) this year. The forecast was disclosed last Wednesday, by the minister of finance, Sani Yaya, during the council of ministers.
Yaya, on the occasion, presented the country’s economic situation in Q3 2022, but also the region’s and the world’s.
According to the official, the quarter was good for Togo. The national situation in the third quarter of 2022 was mainly characterized by activity growth in several economic sectors, compared to the same period in 2021, he said.
The performance, Yaya added, “aligns with estimates laid in the macroeconomic framework of October 2022, which predicted real GDP to grow at 5.8% in 2022 and 6.6% in 2022.”
At the sub-regional level (WAEMU), economic activity "remained dynamic", with a year-on-year growth rate of 5.7%.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Here are the top 10 countries where Togo’s imports came from in Q3 2022 (value-based)
Togo’s imports in Q3 2022 were valued at CFA511.17 billion, against CFA140.8 billion for exports. It thus recorded a commercial deficit of about CFA370 billion that quarter.
According to the source, the National Institute for Statistics (INSEED), Belgium was Togo’s leading goods supplier during the period concerned. The value of imports from the European country stood at CFA128.16 billion (for 176,620 tons of goods), which is 25% of the total value of goods that Togo imported in Q3 2022.
After Belgium, China was next. The value of goods imported from the Asian country was CFA68.6 billion (13.4% of the total). France followed (CFA52.5 billion, 10.3%) closing the top 3.
Then there are the Netherlands (5.5%), the United States (4.2%), India (3.7%), Kuwait (3.1%), Russia (2.4%), Malaysia (2.3%), and the United Arab Emirates (2%).
These 10 countries, together, contributed 72% of Togo’s imports in the quarter reviewed, in terms of value.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Government poured nearly CFA1.8 billion into its school canteen program last year
During the 2021-2022 academic year, the Togolese government (and its partners) spent CFA1.78 billion on its school canteen program. The Minister of Grassroots Development, Myriam Dossou-d’Almeida, said this Wednesday, during the Council of Ministers.
The monies covered 906 schools and 132,153 pupils spread across the country’s most vulnerable areas. In 2020-2021, the program covered 94,712 pupils, 39% less than last year. This year, the government expects it to cover 213,784 pupils, taking into account families in the Savanes region who were displaced because of terrorist attacks. “Over 30 schools located in the Kpendjal prefecture will join the program,” a statement from the Council of Ministers reads.
The school canteen program, the government claims, fosters social inclusion by guaranteeing access to basic necessities, which are essential for cohesion and sustainable peace. Launched in 2008, it is backed–financially and technically–by the World Bank. The program should cover 300,000 pupils by 2025.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Local Coffee firm teams up with two Italian companies to boost its output, quantitatively and qualitatively
Last month, KingCafé, a Togolese company that is specialized in the industrial processing of coffee and cocoa, signed technical partnership agreements with Morola and Veronesi, two Italian firms that operate in the same sector.
With the first, Morola, KingCafé landed a patent-sharing deal. The deal with Veronesi will allow the Togolese firm to improve the quality of its coffee. Paul Kpelly, founder of KingCafé, claimed that both agreements will enable his company to provide “coffee that meets international standards.”
Moreover, KingCafé will start producing new-generation coffee makers, in large quantities and at a low cost. "Thanks to these two deals, we will start assembling parts locally, and entirely manufacturing coffee makers in Togo,” Kpelly said.
Back in June 2022, KingCafé opened its capital, hoping to raise up to CFA900 million for its expansion–across the WAEMU, in Central Africa, France, and the U.S. Another goal of the firm is to boost its annual output, from 2.5 T to 150, 300 or 1,000 T.
The firm was created in 2018 and by the end of 2021, it claimed a turnover of CFA96 million.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo-India Partnership: President Gnassigbe recently met India’s ambassador
The Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé, met India’s Ambassador to Togo, Ram Saajiv Tandon last Tuesday. They reviewed the relationship between the two countries and talked about cooperation prospects for 2023.
"We talked about many areas of cooperation where we have made a joint effort to promote our bilateral ties in recent months. I took the opportunity to relay to the President of the Togolese Republic the wishes of the President and the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of India," the Indian diplomat said after the audience.
In recent years, Togo and India have collaborated in the clean energy and investment sectors.
The highlight of their partnership was in June 2021. Then, Togo secured a major loan–CFA22 billion–from India to electrify 350 of its localities. India is also engaged in the Industrial Platform of Adétikopé (PIA), which is a big project in Togo.
Last year, Togo attended the 17th CII-Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership Participants explored opportunities for bolstering the two regions’ partnership in the energy, trade, and industry sectors.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo and Turkey ink MoU to boost their economic cooperation
Yesterday, Jan. 17, the Council for Foreign Economic Relations of Turkey (DEIK) and the National Council of Employers of Togo (CNP-Togo) signed a memorandum of understanding to boost their economic cooperation.
The MoU was signed during “Togo day”, a virtual conference organized by the Togolese ministry for investment promotion and the Turkish embassy. Its goal is to dynamize relations between businesses from both countries.
The agreement will also help increase trade according to Kayi Mivedor, the minister of investment promotion of Togo.
"I take the opportunity of this event to invite the Ministry of Trade of Turkey to establish a working committee with all stakeholders in our respective countries, for the materialization of the Togo - Turkey Investment Forum, as envisaged during the Togo - Turkey political consultations that took place in 2022," Mivedor added.
Togo and Turkey have been working on bolstering their relationship for some years now. In April 2021, Turkey opened its embassy in the African country, and in October, of the same year, the Turkish President visited. During his stay in Togo, several agreements were signed to boost the relationship between the two countries.
Esaïe Edoh