In Togo, The Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor Foundation (SEA Foundation) recently launched its agribusiness incubators for young Togolese. The launch ceremony took place on November 18, in Lavié, 140 km from Lomé. The minister for grassroots development and youth employment, Myriam Dossou-d’Almeida, was present. 

The project, implemented by the football star’s foundation, aims to “create necessary conditions for promoting agricultural entrepreneurship to the youths.”

Concretely, with this project, the foundation plans to train 1,050 youths within three years. It (the project) has three components: training, building a pool of leading agripreneurs and supporting the creation of agribusinesses. 

The incubator is backed by the UNDP, as part of a partnership reached last October. 

Emmanuel Adebayor has on multiple occasions expressed his ambition to develop agriculture and tap into the sector’s potential for creating jobs for young people. Last April, for example, the ex-football player and the former advisor of Barack Obama, Thione Niang, evaluated the possibility to carry out a project similar to the one launched last week.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo earned more last year from its goods exports than it did in 2020. The segment generated CFA748.6 billion or 7.1% more than 2020’s CFA695 billion. The figures were posted by the Banque Centrale des Etats d'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO), in its latest report on external trade in the WAEMU.

Thus, last year’s performance sustains a growth trend that started since 2017; that year, Togo’s goods exports revenues stood at CFA591.5 billion.

Last year, Togo mostly exported raw materials and intermediate goods, earning CFA158.6 billion from them (+23.4% compared to 2020). Revenues from capital goods exports also rose in 2021, from CFA47.1 billion to CFA66.7 billion (+41.6%).

Growth was more moderate for food exports. Over the year under review, they generated CFA118.5 billion for Togo, which is 1.3% more than in 2020 when they stood at CFA116.9 billion.

The main food products exported by Togo in 2021 were Chocolate and Cocoa, which earned the country CFA10.6 billion, Cereals and Flour (CFA11.1 billion), and Fats and Oils (CFA45.5 billion).

Togo also improved its share in the WAEMU’s overall goods exports. From 3.2% in 2020, this share rose to 3.7% in 2021. Overall, the Union’s eight (8) member States earned, last year, 20,466 billion CFA from exporting goods.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo earned CFA111.1 billion from exporting transport services (by land, sea, and air) in 2021, or 6% more than it did in 2020 (CFA104 billion). The WAEMU’s Central Bank, the BCEAO, recently released a report where the figure was disclosed.

According to the Bank, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, in the WAEMU, are the biggest winners in this segment. Mostly, revenues generated by land and sea transport are the highest. This is explained by port activities, service offered to shipowners, and supply to landlocked countries of the region. 

"Indeed, services provided to foreign shipowners and land transport are the main source of revenue from transport services for the Union's member countries," wrote the BCEAO’s experts in their report – a document that covers the Union’s exports in 2021.

Togo and Côte d’Ivoire took advantage of the borders’ reopening. The latter fluidified trade within the WAEMU and led to a 3.6% increase in transport revenues. 

"Transport revenues increased by 3.6% to CFA520.9 billion against CFA502.7 billion in 2020, due to the reopening of borders which was spurred by a mitigation of the effects of the health crisis,” the report notes.

While revenues from exporting transport services grew in 2021, the share of this segment in overall exported services was lower than the previous year. From 23.1% in 2020, this share stood at 20.8% in 2021. However, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire were still the top providers of transport services over the period concerned.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The European Union and Germany announced on November 18, 2022, additional financing to support the Emergency Program for the Savannes Region (PURS) in Togo. 

In detail, the EU will disburse €5 million while Germany will increase bilateral funds for its ProEnergie project.

The EU allocation, a grant, will be mobilized under the crisis response component of the new "Global Europe" tool. As for Germany, it will disclose the exact amount during bilateral negotiations at the end of November 2022 in Berlin.

The new financing should help extend access to basic social services for the most vulnerable population in the Savanes region, which is facing a terrorist threat.

Specifics

Over 2,500 households, across 17 localities in the Savannes region, will have access to power as a result of the project. A statement also claims that about 10 peripheral health care units will be electrified by solar technology and get medical equipment such as autoclaves for sterilization, blood analyzers, centrifuges, microscopes, and other ICT equipment (laptops, printers).

Part of the new funds will also finance vocational training for youth and women on entrepreneurship and the productive use of electricity.

It should be noted that last January, the EU signed with the Togolese authorities the joint document of multi-year programming (DCP) which provides for the actions it will carry out to support Togo’s development over the period 2021-2027.

Esaïe Edoh 

Togolese soybean actors officially launched the 2022-2023 sales campaign last Tuesday, November 15. The campaign will end on June 30, 2023.

This season, over 200,000 tons of soybeans will be sold, according to the national federation of soybean producers.

"We have agreed to set up a safety stock for the benefit of processors. The moratorium period that was given last year will not be granted this campaign, but all buying traders will put in place a safety stock for processors," said Komlan Kadzakade, President of the Interprofessional Council of the soybean sector (CFIS).

This season, the on-field purchase price at the field is up by about 7%. –CFA280 to CFA300 per kg.

Let’s note that soybean has performed well in the past few years. During the 2016-2017, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 campaigns, respectively, the sector posted an output of 39,000 tons, 44,700 tons, and 46,700 tons.

Esaïe Edoh

Over 40,000 tons of pineapples were produced in Togo during the 2021-2022 season. The exact figure–44,391 tons—was reported last September by the PROCAT, a project that supports Togo’s pineapple sector.

Out of the volume produced over the period reviewed, 33,737 tons were grown organically.

Compared to 2019 when the country produced 30,149 tons, the recent output is up by 47%. In 2017, Togo produced even fewer pineapples: 27,000 t.

The improvement is attributable mostly to the PROCAT which supported, in several ways, rural and agricultural actors, as well as micro, small, and medium businesses active in the pineapple sector.

The PROCAT is financed by the European Union and backed by the German Ministry of Cooperation (BMZ). In 2020, the two partners gave Togo’s national federation of pineapple producers CFA30 million to help local pineapple-processing businesses be more competitive.

Esaïe Edoh

Over 99% of land titles have been digitized in Togo and this means all land procedures, including transfers, can now be completed online. This was disclosed two weeks ago (November 3) by the Commissioner General of the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR), Philippe Kokou Tchodie, during a virtual conference

"The procedures have been simplified to the maximum and the OTR has quickly adapted," Tchodie said.

The digitization of the land registry, besides procedure completion, should make it easier to collect land and accommodation taxes, for the State and municipalities.

Five months ago, Togo’s tax office reported that it was now possible to check the request for land registration online. 

The government, let’s recall, wants to dematerialize 75% of its administrative procedures by 2025.

A week ago, on November 10, the national forum for social dialogue closed in Kara (420km north of Lomé). Participants, during the meeting, adopted a roadmap to reorganize and revitalize social dialogue in Togo. 

Actions laid under the roadmap should foster conditions for “sustainable social peace which will support the productivity of businesses and public administrations and consolidate social progress.”

In detail, the document defines the government's support to the social partners for the training of workers, particularly in the sectors of health, mobile telephony, public works, the free zone, construction and public works, and national education, which have faced several challenges over the past decade.

According to Gilbert Bawara, Minister of Work and Social Dialogue, adopting the roadmap aligns with ongoing reforms in the work sector. The official also reiterated the government’s commitment to implement projects in which all stakeholders will be involved.

The national forum for social dialogue was organized in partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It was also an occasion to assess social dialogue and its prospects in Togo.

Esaïe Edoh