The Togolese minister of investment promotion, Rose Kayi Mivedor, met with the US ambassador in Togo, Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, last week, on Feb 1. According to the ministry, the two women talked mostly about the Togolese business climate and US investments in the African country.

Mivedor and Fitzsimmons assessed the level of cooperation between their countries relative to investments. They also talked about the reforms that Togo undertook, to secure Compact financing (provided by the US State Department via the Millenium Challenge Corporation), and about ways to attract more American investors.

In the last two years, Mivedor’s ministry has leveraged diplomatic relations to promote Togo’s image as a land of investment. It does this through a tight collaboration with the ministry of foreign affairs (of Togo).

Over the past two years, Togo’s aquaculture output grew by 57%, from 730 t in 2020 to 1,151 t in 2022. The ministry of maritime economy disclosed the data on Feb 7, 2023.

The ministry of fisheries, for its part, said Togo recorded the growth because it is investing heavily to support aquaculture”. The government, indeed, supports fishermen by providing them with equipment, like motorized boats, floating cages, and feeders.

"This rapid growth in aquaculture production is a clear indicator of the success of the State's strategy to support aquaculture in Togo and offers economic and development opportunities for fish farmers and local communities," said the ministry of fisheries. The same source also referred to a major project steered by the government to grow the production and export of sea products. This is the Togo Aquaculture Development Project (PDAT); it is currently in its pilot stage which takes place on the Nangbeto Lake.

Last year, 11,567 t of fish were caught in Togo through artisanal maritime fishing, 117 t through industrial fishing, and 6,300 tons of fishery products were caught in continental waters. As for fish farming, it has generated 835 tons.

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo has been temporarily suspended from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The organization's Board of Directors blames the country for failing to publish a report on its extractive activities in 2020.

Two other countries were suspended for the same reason: Kazakhstan and Mexico. The three countries failed to produce the report before the set deadline (December 31, 2022).

"Togo cannot claim an extension of the reporting deadline for the fiscal year from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. The deadline for publication of the outstanding report remains 31 December 2022," said the EITI Board in its decision note issued on February 1, 2023.

The sanction will be "automatically lifted if the report is published within 6 months of the reporting deadline," the Board added.

The EITI is an international organization that promotes good practices of transparency and accountability in the governance of the extractive sector. It had already suspended Togo in 2019 for publishing its 2017 report late.

Esaïe Edoh

Nineteen (19) people won the Togo Top Impact Awards this year. The list was unveiled last Saturday, Feb 4, during a gala dinner at the Sarakawa Hotel in Lomé. Several officials were present.

President Faure Gnassingbé was among the award winners. He won the African Personality of the Year 2022 award, for promoting peace and mediating in the Mali-Côte d'Ivoire crisis.

Other winners include Kovi Adanbounou, mayor of the Agoè-Nyivé 1 municipality(Maritime Region), Patience Adjivon, co-founder of Lomé Business School, and Dona Etchri, a successful digital entrepreneur.

The complete list of winners 

AFRICAN PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2022: HE Faure E. GNASSINGBE

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2022: Mr. ADANBOUNOU A. Kovi 

Excellence Award 2022: Mr. TCHODIE P. Kokou 

Best woman manager of the year: Mrs. ADJIVON Patience 

Best female leader of the year: Mrs. GABIAM Ayélé Esther 

Best young leader of the year: Mr. DEPOUK'N A. Markus

Best rural entrepreneur of the year: Mr. TEWOU Kokou

Best cultural actor of the year: Mr. BOSSOU-HUNKALI A. M. Marcelin 

Best humanitarian action of the year: ANVT 

Best digital entrepreneur of the year: Mr. ETCHRI Edeh Dona 

Best digital solution of the year: Sodjinè Pay

Best journalist of the year: Mr. BALAO Kossi Elom

Best Togolese of the Diaspora at the social level: Mr. BATTAH Komi 

Jury Prize: Mrs. DOGBE Kayi Béatrice 

Prize for the best promoter of community development: Mr. GOMADO Joseph Koamy 

Prize for the valorization of research and innovation: Prof. AZOUMAH K. Yao 

Prize for the leader of the Togolese diaspora: Mr. RADJI Safiou

Digital Transformation Award: Mr. GALLEY Yaovi Michel 

Entrepreneurial Resilience Award: Mr. BADIROU Fatiou

Togo’s power utility (CEET) launched, on 20 January 2023, a census of its customers’ meters. The project will allow the State company to have a digital map of its customers and supply equipment.

With the data collected during the census, the CEET will develop a reliable geolocalization system covering Lomé, Tsévié, Kévé, and their surroundings. 

The campaign is part of the Togo Energy Reform and Investment Project (PRSIET). This is a project that the World Bank has backed, with CFA20 billion..

Esaïe Edoh

Next Friday, Feb 10, Togo will try to raise CFA35 billion on the WAEMU stock market. This will be the country’s third issue on the regional market this year. 

According to the operation’s details, Lomé will simultaneously issue fungible treasury bills and bonds. Regarding the bonds, they have a nominal value of CFA10,000 and will mature over 3 and 5 years, with respective interest rates of 5.5% and 5.7%. The bills, for their part, will mature over 91 days, have multiple interest rates, and have a nominal value of CFA1 million.

The issue’s process will serve to finance Togo’s budget for 2023–a blanched budget that stands at CFA1,957 billion.

For its latest issue on the WAEMU market, Togo raised 30 billion CFA. Before that, it raised CFA16 billion. This makes a total of 46 billion out of CFA574 billion, its target for the year, on the regional market.

Esaïe Edoh  

Land subdivision in Togo is subject to approval from the ministry of urban planning, housing, and land reform. The reminder came via a press release issued last week by the agriculture, economy, security, urban planning, and territorial administration ministries. 

“Any subdivision operation, involving the voluntary division of a plot of land into one or more parcels, is subject to prior authorization from the minister of urban planning, housing, and land reform,” the release reads.

This authorization, the document further indicates, must be requested by mayors and representatives of municipalities, before any subdivision operation.

By enforcing this rule, Togolese authorities aim to tackle illegal land subdivisions and the security, planning, and environmental issues it causes. 

In the country, many efforts are being made to improve governance. These include the dematerialization of the land registry and the adoption of a draft decree on the rules applicable to land books and electronic registers. All these initiatives aim to make land transactions more fluid and safer, in a context where most of the cases sent to court are land disputes.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Togo (CCI-Togo) and the National Chartered Accountants Order of Togo (ONECCA) signed Thursday, February 2, 2023, in Lome, an agreement to facilitate access to accounting services to MSMEs, SMEs, and SMIs.

Through this agreement, the two organizations want to strengthen the mission of the Certified Management Center (CGA in French). 

Consequently, Togolese businesses will benefit from management services from chartered accountants and certified accountants, including bookkeeping. Also, the deal will help SMEs grow and be more resilient, especially against issues they face while starting up. Businesses selected will get a five-year support.

"Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up the bulk of our economic fabric - in fact, in 2020 we demonstrated more than 146,000 companies, 94% of which are SMEs - is a concern shared by all actors in the economic ecosystem. Because these entities are more fragile, especially at the beginning of their activities," said Nathalie Bitho, president of the special consular delegation of the CCI-Togo. 

The agreement is part of the community reform relating to approved management centers. According to Yawo Djidotor, president of the National Order of Chartered Accountants of Togo, “this initiative will mark the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between the two institutions for the benefit of Togo’s business climate.” 

The Certified Management Center was established to improve the management of businesses and assist them in tax, social, and management matters. It helps them to keep and report their accounts. Nearly 200 SMEs are supported by the entity throughout the territory.