Togo First
“Health is a priority for social cohesion in Togo” – Faure Gnassingbé
Togo is hosting the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa. At the event’s opening, on Aug. 22, Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé, said health is a priority for social cohesion, a priority which is at the heart of his government's development policy. The leader then went on to list some of the steps taken by the national health system.
According to Gnassingbé, one of the goals of the 2025 government roadmap is to provide health coverage and access to basic health services for all. This goal, the leader stressed, aligns with the WHO’s 13th general work program. The latter seeks to add a billion people to the institution’s universal health coverage scheme.
The Togolese leader was addressing a crowd of nearly 400 health actors, including WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, 47 health ministers, as well as health experts and partners.
Regarding the efforts to improve the Togolese health system, Faure Gnassingbé noted that his government set up a sub-ministry for universal access to healthcare, within the health ministry, and adopted a bill that establishes universal health insurance. The latter is managed by the National Health Insurance Institute.
Another program President Gnassingbé mentioned is “Wezou”. This is an initiative that benefits pregnant women and newborns.
"Overall, the availability of human resources has improved, with the decentralization of educational institutions and health facilities, through the construction and equipment of structures according to the health map. This has led to a significant increase in geographical accessibility to health care, which is now estimated at 76%," said the Togolese President.
The 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa will close on August 26, 2022. Throughout the event, participants will discuss key issues such as non-communicable diseases, climate change, epidemics, and health financing. Subsequently, they will draw a new health strategy for Africa.
Written by: Esaïe Edoh
Translated from French by:Schadrac Akinocho
Togo: Social security fund launches app to help pensioners and annuitants get their dues more easily
All Togolese pensioners and annuitants (residents and non-residents) can now go through with the country’s social security fund’s life verification operation remotely. The fund or CNSS just launched Biosecu, an app that integrates facial recognition, in this framework.
"Facial recognition allows us to confirm that your face perfectly matches the picture available in CNSS Togo’s biometric database," the fund said.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Togo, pensioners and annuitants had to physically go to the CNSS twice a year, to confirm their identity, before getting their payments. In 2020, this verification process was suspended, in line with the restrictive measures introduced to contain the spread of the virus. However, it resumed on August 16, 2022, according to a statement recently issued by Ingrid Awalé, director-general of the CNSS.
"The life verification operation, which was previously suspended in compliance with the barrier measures enacted by the government to prevent Covid-19 from spreading, resumes from August 16 to December 31, 2022, for the payment of pensions and annuities of the first half of 2023," Awalé wrote. "Payment of dues to beneficiaries who will not perform the said operation will be suspended from January 1, 2023, in accordance with the regulatory provisions of the Social Security Code," she added.
Launching Biosecu is a significant milestone for the CNSS. The fund, let’s emphasize, was the first Togolese institution to adopt e-declaration and e-payment.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo’s tax authority will put 1,000 vehicles up for auction this week
Starting tomorrow, August 23, Togo’s Revenue Office (OTR) will be auctioning more than 1,000 vehicles at the Port of Lomé. The news was disclosed in a notice issued earlier this month by Philippe Kokou Tchodié, Commissioner-General of the OTR.
A total of 1,021 vehicles will be auctioned. Tomorrow’s auction is part of a larger operation pursuant to court decisions issued on July 20, 2022. This operation began on August 9, 2022, and includes, besides the thousand cars, 45 containers of various goods, 8859 bales of second-hand clothes, 40 more vehicles, and a batch of goods.
The OTR conducts the auctions to raise money. Last May, the tax revenue authority auctioned around 200 vehicles.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
UMOA-securities: Togo secures CFA33 billion on the regional money market
Last Friday, Togo secured CFA33 billion on the UMOA securities market. While that is the amount Lomé retained, it mobilized around CFA59 in the related issue.
The country raised the funds through a simultaneous issue of Treasury Recovery Bonds (OdR), with the bonds having a nominal value of CFA10,000.
According to the UMOA securities agency, the two issues will mature over five and seven years, respectively. They have an interest rate of 5.7% and 5.9%, distinctly.
The agency added that Togolese authorities will use the operation’s proceeds to finance their budget, in line with efforts to recover from Covid-19 and return to pre-pandemic performances.
Esaïe Edoh
African Guarantee Fund teams up with BGFIBAnk to help African SMEs get more financing
The African Guarantee Fund Group (AGF) has set up a €50 million credit guarantee line for African SMEs. The BGFI network will distribute the funds, according to an agreement that both institutions signed on August 12, 2022, in Libreville.
The joint statement disclosing the partnership indicates that the deal was signed by Henri-Claude Oyima and Jules Ngankam, the respective CEOs of BGFIBank Group and AGF Group. The top management of both entities was there.
"The AGF Group and the BGFIBank Group have been working together for eight years, and this new agreement shows our desire to keep supporting SMEs, which are key players in job creation in Africa. Also, we consider women entrepreneurs as a pillar of economic growth. And thanks to the AFAWA Guarantee for Growth program, which AGF deployed in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the BGFIBank Group's subsidiaries will provide women’s SMEs with more advantageous conditions," said Mr. Ngankam.
AGF West Africa, the group’s division dedicated to SMEs in the region, is based in Lomé. In Togo, the group focuses on women and youth. It supports their businesses and wants to create between 30,000 and 50,000 jobs over five years.
Public Transport: Togo’s moto-taxi and tuk-tuk riders coalesce into a central union group
Coming from all parts of the country, nearly 300 taxi-bike riders gathered, last Thursday, to set up the central union of taxi-bikes and trike riders (COSTT). The entity will directly handle talks with the government, relative to the formalization of the moto-taxi activity.
“Bringing together all taxi-bike unions into a group that will formalize is important, essential even, for the sector to operate efficiently; a goal which the government has always aimed to achieve,” said Dermane Tadjoudine, director of the road and rail transport office (DTRF)
It should be noted that a few weeks ago, the government announced the reorganization of urban public transport of people by cab, moto-taxis, and tuk-tuks.
The official added that the proper functioning of the new group of unions will contribute to the government’s ambition of making Togo a logistics hub and leading business center, in West Africa. "To have a hub, we need a transport system that provides reliable, safe, sustainable, and affordable road transport services for goods and people,” Tadjoudine said.
In Togo, 90% of people and goods moving across the country use taxis, taxi-bikes, and trikes, according to the government. And many young people work in the sector.
"The transport sector is one of the levers capable of generating strong and sustainable economic growth, notably through the creation of production-conducive externalities," reads the statement from the council of ministers held on July 25, 2022. On that day, the government said it was working on restructuring public transport in urban areas, especially the transportation of people with taxis, taxi-bikes, and trikes.
Esaïe Edoh
Afreximbank, Ecobank, and BIA Togo to pump €145 million into the Adetikope Industrial Platform
Afreximbank, Ecobank-Togo, and BIA Togo put together €145 million (more than CFA95 billion) for Arise Group to build infrastructure at the Adetikope Industrial Platform (PIA). All parties signed a financing agreement last Tuesday, Aug 16.
In detail, Afreximbank, the deal’s lead manager, provided €85 million, and Ecobank and BIA Togo (a subsidiary of Attijariwafa Bank) disbursed respectively €45 million and €15 million. The project to which the funds will be dedicated is valued at €247 million. It is key for the Togolese economy.
The new financing follows another from the West African Development Bank (BOAD) provided about a year ago. On October 21, the PIA and BOAD indeed signed a €30.5 million financing agreement.
"This banking pool joins the West African Development Bank (BOAD), which has set up, in favor of PIA Togo, a credit of about €30.5 million (CFA20 billion) whose agreement was signed on October 21, 2021,” we learned.
The PIA is operational since June 2021 and is now moving to its second development phase. In its first phase, an industrial zone, a logistics zone, a commercial and residential center, and world-class infrastructure were built at the site. For the second phase, those in charge of the project plan to deploy factories that will process various crops and fruits, such as cashew nuts, pineapple, corn, mango, sesame, etc.
Esaïe Edoh
A cybersecurity regional hub will soon be built in Lomé, Togo
Togo will soon host a regional cybersecurity hub: the African Cybersecurity Center. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will help the country build the facility. Both parties have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to this end, according to a joint release dated August 16, 2022.
“The Togolese Republic and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) are pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding for close collaboration to build the African Cybersecurity Coordination and Research Center in Togo,” reads the release.
Cina Lawson, minister of the digital economy and digital transformation, welcomed the news, saying: "We are pleased to partner with ECA, to bolster our commitment to making cybersecurity a top priority for our states. Our ambition is to make our country a true digital hub in Africa. Our partnership model with the private sector is an innovative approach we want to put forward, to inspire other countries, and foster safer cyberspace on the continent.”
The African Cybersecurity Center will be built in Lomé. Among others, it will provide expertise in cybersecurity, promote this discipline, and investigate cybercriminal activities.
The Center’s currently-known missions include building capacity and supporting established cybersecurity agencies in African countries, working with African governments, policymakers, law enforcement, and security experts. Overall, the hub aims to develop effective frameworks for assessing and tackling cyber threats, while promoting cybersecurity in the region. It will also provide highly specialized technical and research skills to boost cybersecurity, in West Africa, and Africa in general.
Last March, Togo hosted Africa’s first cybersecurity summit. Co-organized with UNECA, the event brought together Heads of State and governments, as well as leaders of the private sector and civil society. On this occasion, the "Lomé declaration on cybersecurity and the fight against cybercrime," or the Lomé Declaration, was adopted.
Togo: Over CFA500 billion of tax revenues already collected so far this year
Togolese authorities secured CFA504 billion in taxes between January and July, this year. That’s 62% of what the country’s tax revenue office, the OTR, expects for the year–CFA814 billion. The money will finance State spending, in line with the 2022 State expenditure law.
Philippe Kokou Tchodie, Head Commissioner of the OTR, disclosed the results last week, during a mid-year review session.
"We have made some progress despite the economic and social context of the sub-region, and a tense atmosphere at the national level. We managed to secure 62% to 63% of our annual target, and this means we have good momentum for the rest of the year,” said the official.
The tax office added that it is working on a tax earning strategy for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025. With this strategy, the OTR hopes to increase the tax pressure rate to 15% by 2025, from 13.6% in 2021.
In 2021, Togo collected CFA780 billion in taxes, according to Kokou Tchodie’s office.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Authorities halt fishing and related activities at Nangbéto Lake for three months
No fishing is allowed at Nangbéto Lake, Togo, from August 15 to November 15, 2022. This corresponds to the period for the biological rest of fishes, Edem Tengue, the minister of fishing and coast protection, wrote in a statement.
“Biological rest, established on the lake of Nangbeto as part of sustainable management measures, aims to allow for the lake’s repopulation in halieutic resources, to ensure their sustainability for the good of the present and future generations", the official said.
He added that anyone caught, “fishing, moving, or selling products from this Lake” will be sanctioned according to law.
Besides fishing, aquaculture is also practiced at the Nangbéto Lake. The Aquaculture Development Project of Togo (PDAT) was deployed there and CFA380 million have been spent under this project, to provide fish farmers with the equipment they need to produce more tilapia. Up till April 2022, this investment has helped produce nearly 30 tons of tilapia for the local market.