For the year 2023, the Golfe 1 municipality in Togo should use a primary budget of CFA2.65 billion. This was decided during a City Council held on Friday, December 9, and chaired by Joseph Gomado, mayor of Golfe 1. The budget forecast is 18% higher than that adopted in 2022–CFA2.23 billion.

According to available details, operating expenses will capture 76.83% of the budget projected for 2023 while the remaining 23.71% will be devoted to investment and capital expenditures.

With the forecast budget, the municipality should cover 14 major projects. These include the acquisition of civil engineering machinery, development work, material and equipment, improvement of human resources management, and urban and hospital development work, all located within the municipality.

"Given that the budget is only a forecast, the objectives can only be achieved if there is a synergy of actions between all actors: local governments, deconcentrated services of the State, private companies and businesses, CSOs, traditional leaders, CDQs and many more," said Mayor Gomado.

The Golfe 1 municipality is one of the biggest municipalities in the Greater Lomé area. Spread over 6,066 km2, the municipality is home to around 500,000 inhabitants, which is just under a quarter of Greater Lomé’s whole population.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo recently joined the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development (IGF). The country officially joined during IGF’s 18th Annual General Meeting on Nov. 7-10, 2022, in Geneva.

Togo’s main goal in joining IGF is to develop its mining sector and bolster the socioeconomic impact of mining activities on populations. Besides, Lomé expects the move to help reduce poverty and the adverse effects of mining, as well as preserve the environment.

"We chose to join with the goal of getting sound advice and technical support, in order to keep transforming our mining industry and make it a true driver of sustainable economic growth, and a major lever for creating wealth and jobs," said Blaise Gozan, technical adviser to the Minister Delegate to the President of the Republic, responsible for energy and mining.

For his part IGF’s director, Greg Radford said: “We look forward to helping them (Ed.note: Togo) achieve their national goals through good mining governance.”

The Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development is an organization that helps several governments achieve good mining governance. Togo is the 80th government to join.

Esaïe Edoh

As the year comes to an end, the Togolese government will tighten its grip on the sales of fake, expired, counterfeit products in the country. 

In a statement issued on December 12, 2022, the minister of trade, industrialization, and local consumption, Kodjo Adedze, said his department would “reinforce controls by competent services all over the territory.”

While reminding consumers that selling fake, expired, and counterfeit products is strictly forbidden in Togo, the ministry warns them to  be more vigilant, especially in this period.

The official also urged consumers who come across such products to call 8585, a toll-free line dedicated to this purpose.

Earlier this year, the government, it should be recalled, denounced fraudulent practices relative to the sale of oil products at stations. At the time, it said unannounced controls would be carried out at random stations to deter those behind the practices.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo hopes to achieve 100% electricity coverage by 2030, against 59% now. By then, the share of renewables in the energy mix should be 50%, according to the country’s ambitions. 

To this end, Lomé  has carried out several projects such as building energy infrastructures, aimed at first reducing shortages, and consolidating achievements toward setting up an environment that is fit for industrialization  

From the 2018 roundtable, to draw the national electrification strategy, to the launch of the Blitta photovoltaic power plant, Togo strives, every year, to achieve universal access to electricity.

In this article, we quickly review some energy projects and infrastructures recently developed in Togo

Contour Global

To put an end to the permanent load shedding in the country, the authorities inaugurated in October 2010, Contour Global’s thermal power plant. This is a tri-fuel power plant that runs on HFO fuel, diesel, and natural gas. The plant has an installed capacity of 100 MW and has been getting its natural gas supplies through the Société de Gazoduc Ouest Africain pipeline since 2019. 

Kekeli Efficient Power Plant

In April 2021, the Togolese authorities inaugurated the Kekeli Efficient Power plant to boost the country's installed capacity. With an expandable production capacity of 65 MW, the project required an investment of CFA85 billion, provided by Eranove, which owns 75% of the facility. The government holds the remaining stake, 25%, via Kifema Capital, an investment vehicle of Togo Invest, a public holding whose shareholders include the national social security fund (CNSS), INAM, and the CCIT. 

Kékéli should eventually produce 532 GWh annually to supply more than 250,000 Togolese households or more than 1.5 million people. This power plant increases Togo's electricity production capacity by 50%.

Blitta Solar Plant

The Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed solar power plant or Blitta’s solar plant (located in the central region, 262 km from Lomé) was built by AMEA Togo Solar, a subsidiary of AMEA Power, and inaugurated in June 2021. 

With an initial capacity of 30 MWp, this PV plant has over 5,000 solar panels and is expected to generate approximately 90,255 MWh per year. Its output should cover around 158,333 Togolese households.

AMEA power, a subsidiary of Al Nowais Investissement (ANI) based in the United Arab Emirates, was awarded the right to operate the plant for a period of 25 years with the specification to contribute to the saving of one million tons of CO2 emissions.

In the project’s second phase, the installed capacity will be extended by 20 MW, using financing of $25 million (CFA15 billion) from Abu Dhabi Exports (ADEX) which concluded on November 23, 2022, an agreement with Togo.

Two plants in the pipeline

Togo plans to build two more solar plants in the coming years, one in Salimde, (In the Tchaoudjo prefecture) and the other in Awandjelo (Kozah).

Last June, the BOAD approved a CFA25 billion financing for the construction of the Awandjelo plant. The latter should generate an additional 42 MWp, and bring renewables’ share in Togo’s energy mix to 40. 

Togo, let’s recall, aims to have renewable energy make up 50% of its energy mix by 2030.

Off-grid networks 

In Togo, rural electricity projects are steered by the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Agency. 

Several companies, including BBOXX, EDF, and Sun King-Soleva, are actively working to promote universal access to electricity by developing innovative technologies and providing solar energy services to communities not connected to the grid.

In 2019, Togo launched the Cizo project in partnership with BBOXX, a renewable energy company that provides affordable solar energy systems to off-grid communities in Africa and Asia. Soleva joined the initiative a few years later before it was acquired, in 2022, by Sun King, a renewable energy developer. The project’s goal is to democratize access to electricity by providing affordable individual solar kits to more than 2 million Togolese (or about 300,000 households). 

In 2021, the Cizo was complemented by the Tinga Fund, a mechanism to facilitate access to electricity through the provision of repayable government grants to rural people.  In its first phase, the project should reach 33,000 households.

The Global Development Policy Forum (GDPF 2022) will take place in Lomé on December 14 and 15. This year, the theme picked for the forum is “Innovative policymaking for global sustainable development”. 

The talks, which will focus on public management and leadership, are organized by the Tod’Aers Network and the Lome Business School (LBS), in partnership with London-based One Young World.

“The Global Development Policy Forum (GDPF 2022) will connect experts and leaders from both private and public sectors, as well as from academia. Participants will include delegates from government entities, international entities, public policy institutions, national agencies, private sector enterprises, multilateral & development organizations, scientific & academic institutions,” end-users, and consumer services, the event’s organizing committee wrote on the event's website.

Among others, participants will discuss issues such as public leadership & ethical governance, quality education & capacity building, youth empowerment, and civic engagement.

It will be a hybrid event, held physically at the Lome Business School and online via Zoom.

Last week, Togo’s Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbé, launched works to rehabilitate 43 km of rural roads in the Vo prefecture. 

Carried out by Entreprise des Grands Bâtiments et Routes (EGBR), the works should take 11 months. They will help open up several communities of the prefecture, such as Klologo, Kponou, Togoville Kouenou, Sévagan, Sévatonou, Tchadomé, and Djokoto, which are all located along the N°34 National Road (RN34). 

Opening up these areas aligns with the government’s 5-year roadmap which plans for the development of at least 4,000 km of rural roads across the country. The goal of the authorities is to accelerate integration in rural areas, by making it easier for households and farmers living in these parts of the country to access input and markets.  

According to a report recently issued by the Togolese authorities entitled "Bilan Campagne 2021-2022 & Perspectives 2022-2023", the development of 162 km of rural tracks has begun under the Togo Agricultural Development Support Project (PADAT). This adds to works to build 603 km of other tracks under the Rural Track Support Project (PAPR).

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo launched the 2022-2023 cotton commercialization campaign last Friday, December 9. During this campaign, launched in Korbongou (Savanes region), the country should sell 52,000 t of cotton. The forecast was made by the Nouvelle Société Cotonière du Togo (NSCT).

A kilogram of cotton will be sold for CFA300, as the sector’s actors decided last April. For its part, the NSCT said it will “mobilize the necessary logistics to ensure efficient collecting and rapid payment of cotton farmers.” 

Regarding distribution, most of the cotton which will be sold during the recently-started campaign was produced in the 2021-2022 season – a little over 50,000 t.

It should be emphasized that despite having been taken over by Singapore’s Olam, Togo’s cotton industry still struggles. According to the ministry of agriculture, the country produced 50,463 t of cotton in 2021-2022. This was far behind the expected output, 130,000 t, and even lower than the 66,000 t produced the year before.

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo will renew its partnership with Togo’s National Agency for Volunteering (ANVT), for another five years. This was announced on December 5, 2022, on the International Day for Volunteering (IDV).

Over the past five years, the EU delegation helped deploy around 155 volunteers in Togo and contributed about CFA100 million as part of its partnership with the ANVT.

"Togo is exceptional regarding its volunteer program. It is really a large-scale program that allows young Togolese, not only job seekers, to have a professional experience, but also young people who have dropped out of school to get their foot in the door, and to get better chances for a professional future," said Hugo van Tilborg, Cooperation Officer and representative of the European Union delegation. "For the European Union, youth employment is something crucial, and that is why we support this volunteer program in Togo, through the ANVT," he added.

Togo launched its volunteer program 10 years ago and it has had since then more than 56,000 volunteers involved in various projects, in the sectors of education, environmental protection, health, and support to rural communities.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi