Yesterday ended a two-day workshop to validate a master plan for irrigated agriculture in Togo, in a context where only a few farmers in the country use irrigation, according to experts.

“In Togo, only 1% of agriculture is irrigated, the average in the world is 20%,” says Hugo Van Tilborg, head of the European Union's cooperation in Togo.

To draw the master plan, Togo has the financial and technical support of the EU, through a water survey project. 

“To develop agriculture, you need a plan, you must know where the water is, how to use it. It is very important to have a plan that clearly states where the water resources are. And that is why the European Union has decided to finance this plan,” added Van Tilborg. 

Togo, like many other countries, is looking for ways to protect itself against climate change’s negative impacts, such as the impact on agricultural output. The master plan aligns with this goal.

“To improve agricultural output and productivity, in line with the P12 project, this plan will allow the Ministry of Agriculture, especially farmers, to carry out their activities in all seasons,” said Konlani Dindiogue, Director of Cabinet at the Ministry of Agriculture.

In Togo, the number of Mobile Money users grew by about 7% in 2021, to stand at 4,588,386. This figure was disclosed by the country’s telecom regulator, the ARCEP. According to the source, the increase was driven by the resumption of economic activity, and digitalization. 

The performance recorded last year was lower than that recorded in 2020: 24%. That year, freshly-introduced anti-Covid measures had propelled distance payment.  

Mobile money was launched in Togo in 2013. The following year, it recorded a growth of 291%, then 75% in 2017, 3% in 2019, and 24% in 2020. 

Mobile money in Togo is dominated by Togocel, the incumbent mobile operator, and Moov Africa, a subsidiary of Maroc Telecom. In 2021, Togocel's momo service, Tmoney, had thrice the number of subscribers of its only rival Moov Africa. 

Recently, the two rivals reduced their rates, after it was announced that a third player, Wave would join the market. The price adjustment hurts sales points across the country. Now, these sales points, whose number grew by 25% in Q3 2021, try to draw in new users. 

It should be emphasized that Togo is a country where most people still prefer hand-to-hand cash transactions to mobile transactions. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Sandra Johnson, Minister, Secretary General of the Togolese Presidency, and Governor of the World Bank in Togo received on July 18, Fily Sissoko, the new resident representative of the World Bank. The meeting was also attended by Coralie Gevers, Director of Operations of the Bretton Woods institution for Togo.

The audience revolved around "the issue of a win-win partnership between Togo and the World Bank." According to Johnson, who is the kingpin of the business improvement in Togo since 2019, the World Bank is a strategic partner that "supports our country in its various innovative projects." 

In recent years, the World Bank portfolio in Togo has grown to $917.5 million, thanks, especially, to the progress that the country made regarding its policies and management of its institutions (CPIA). Now, Togo hopes for a significant increase in this portfolio under the new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) being finalized.

The two parties also discussed the allocation of resources for the 20th replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA-20), the World Bank's fund for the least developed countries.  In its framework, the World Bank revealed, earlier this month, in  Dakar, that it would provide $65 billion for 39 African countries. The financing will, however, be approved within a specific framework, and endorsed in the Senegalese capital again.  

"IDA donors and borrowing countries agreed to maintain the four special themes defined for IDA-19: climate change, fragility, conflict and violence, gender equality, and employment and economic transformation. They are introducing a fifth special theme, human capital," the World Bank said in its final communiqué issued after the meeting in Dakar.

According to Sandra Johnson, during her meeting with the World Bank’s executives last week, the Bretton Woods institution reiterated its commitment "to continue supporting the implementation of the government's roadmap to strengthen economic and social inclusion, and to make Togo a logistical and financial hub.“

The World Bank, it should be recalled, finances several projects of the Togolese government roadmap, including its biometric ID project, the West African Coastal Management Program (WACA ResIP), or the Infrastructure and Urban Development Project (PIDU).

Fiacre E. Kakpo

The Togolese government plans to invest nearly CFA37 billion on environmental protection projects in 2023-2025, according to its budget planning.

In detail, the authorities intend to spend CFA19 billion in 2023, and about CFA9 billion in 2024 and 2025, respectively. 

This should contribute to Lomé’s project to plant a billion trees by 2030–that is an average of 100 million trees per year as part of its annual reforestation campaign. The financing should also cover the coast protection and waste management projects. 

In the past three years, around CFA20 billion was spent to protect the environment in Togo. This year, they’re expected to stand at CFA23 billion. 

Esaïe Edoh 

A week ago, on July 19, Togo’s minister of maritime economy met with economic operators from Burkina Faso. They talked about issues the operators face at the dry port of Adétikopé–mainly slow stuffing and unstuffing operations, delays in container transfers, and their high costs. 

Some of the solutions proposed by Tengue to tackle these issues include hiring more staff, setting up a system to inform importers about their containers, and some measures to cut costs. 

The dry port, let’s emphasize, has a storage capacity of 12,500 TEU. Active since January 2022, it was established to free up space at the port of Lomé and has, so far, registered more than 300 containers, according to its coordinator, Vanessa Attivor.

Esaïe Edoh

In December 2021, CanalBox became the leading provider of fixed broadband in Togo, by users. The fiber-to-the-home supplier of Vivendi Africa Group (GVA) stripped the crown from Togo Telecom. 

It doubled its number of subscribers from 18,000 to 36,000 in the past year, while Togo Telecom lost more than 4,000 of them (Ed. note: from 32,000 to 28,000). 

CanalBox dominates the market with over 54% of its shares - that is more than the shares of the other operators, including Togo Télécom, Café Informatique, and Teolis, combined.  

But… 

Togo Telecom keeps its crown in terms of turnover. Last year, it earned CFA34 billion, its highest since 2017, while CanalBox earned only CFA5.7 billion. 

Together, both competitors generated 96% of the revenues of the broadband market in Togo, a market worth more than CFA40,000 billion. The gap between their revenues, however, can be explained by their offers’ structures, and the types of clients that they serve. 

Indeed, although GVA has launched a business offer in addition to its residential packages for the general public - fiber to the home (CFA15,000 and CFA30,000), Togo Telecom still benefits from its historical customer base, big companies especially. Also, Togo Telecom’s offers seem more varied, including nearly a dozen packages ranging from CFA15,000 to CFA200,000 for business offers.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Application notices for land registration are now available on the digital portals of the Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR) and the Journal Officiel de la République Togolaise. This was revealed by Philippe Kokou Tchodié, Commissioner General of the OTR, in a press release issued earlier this month. 

The step, according to the source, is part of reforms to dematerialize land deed registration in Togo. "In addition, the reduced physical version, green in color, can be withdrawn by applicants at the information office of the Directorate of Land Registry, Land Conservation, and Registration and the Regional Divisions of the Land Registry," he added.

Let’s recall that Togo’s government wants to digitalize 75% of administrative procedures by 2025.

Togolese citizens are no longer required to get a visa to travel to Morocco. They can do so just with their passport now. In Rabat, a deal was inked to this end on July 21, 2022. 

“Dear fellow citizens, I am pleased to announce on behalf of the President of the Republic, that from today, July 21, all Togolese holding the ordinary passport of our country can enter and leave Morocco (vice versa) without a visa,” announced on Twitter, Robert Dussey, Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs.

This is a two-way agreement and according to Nasser Bourita, Morocco’s Minister of foreign affairs, it “reflects the quality of human relations between the two countries.” 

The deal, which should reinforce cooperation between Togo and Morocco, adds to other initiatives aiming at the same objective. These include, for example, the recent opening of a Togolese embassy in Morocco, and the preparation of a Togo-Morocco business forum.

Esaïe Edoh

The President of Togo, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, his Prime Minister, Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé, and several ministers, were in Dapaong on July 20, 2022, to meet with the people of the Savanes region. The visit comes shortly after terrorists killed many in that part of the country. 

The President reiterated his commitment, through the defense and security forces (DFS), to deal with the issue. 

He also said that the government will boost efforts to counter and eradicate terrorism in the country, before urging the people to be more cautious and cooperate with the DFS. 

At the meeting, the region’s active forces (elected officials, traditional leaders, religious communities, youth, women ...) suggested some ways to curb the attacks. Their suggestions will “contribute to and enrich decisions and measures taken by the country’s authorities to protect human lives and bolster security, and protect both the people and the national territory.” 

The Savanes region, it should be recalled, has recorded three deadly attacks in which many died and others were injured.

Esaïe Edoh

At its heart, the West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA) aims to protect coasts in several West African countries. 

In Togo, for example, the goal of this World Bank program is to mitigate or stop natural erosion along the country’s coast. This is as the phenomenon is accelerated by the soil type, a low and flat topography, heavy rains and floods, and human activity such as the port of Lomé. 

The distance covered by the program in Togo spans 42 km, going from Agbodrafo (around 30 km west of Lomé) to Grand Popo (in Benin). 

Building and rehabilitating groins 

As part of the WACA, protective groins will be rehabilitated and built between these two points. Beaches will be replenished with breakwaters as well.

“Our contract to protect the coast, from Agbodrafo to Grand Popo (Benin), is jointly carried out by Togo and Benin. In the first phase, we plan to rehabilitate six existing groins in Aneho and extend them by 10 m at least. The breakwater will also be rehabilitated and extended by 200 m,” Cesar Eusebio, a coast engineer involved in the project told Togo First.  

“Between basins (the space separating two groins), we will refill the beach with sand taken from the open sea, very far from the coast. A sand dyke is also planned to protect houses along the coast from flooding,” the expert added.

Nine months of work 

From Agbodrafo to Kpeme, seven rock groins should be laid, with a length of 65 m to 75 m. Moreover, the rehabilitated groins will be filled with sand. 

In Aneho, a breakwater will be set up at the sea mouth to prevent tempest and unusually strong waves from flooding nearby houses. 

A 20-year lifespan

The constructions should last 20 years, according to Franz Thomassen, project chief at Boskalis, the Dutch firm that secured the contract covering Togo and Benin. The works are monitored by INROS-LACKNER and are set to end between October 2022 and June 2023. 

"We will use the "good season" of the sea for the construction of longitudinal groins in Aného, it will be between October 2022 and June 2022. During this period, we will work on the constructions in the open sea," Thomassen told Togo First.

“Ahead of the 'good season' we are doing the preliminary work, that is reinforcing sites where the riprap (ed. note: used for the work in the open sea) will be stored and we started this preliminary work in June 2022,” he added. 

Togo and Benin have already spent €63 million on this project, with the support of their partners.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi