To better impact consumers, Togo’s Electronic Communications and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) will bet on regulation by data and capacity building of the media in the processing of information related to ARCEP. 

In this framework, the regulator hosted last Tuesday–World Telecommunication Day- a masterclass regrouping media professionals and consumer associations. 

“In line with its new strategic plan, the ARCEP has placed regulation by data (ed. Note: relying on the power of information to guide the market and consumer choices) at the heart of its vision,” said Michel Yaovi Galley, Director General, ARCEP, during the masterclass. This, he added, means, “fostering access to digital services through regulation by all and for all” which will imply “relying on the latest technological tools and its platform for monitoring and supervision of the quality of service (QoS)” and thus “demonstrates the ARCEP’s expertise and know-how.”

Leveraging the media as a "link in the message transmission chain"

According to Hervé Pana, Communication Advisor at the ARCEP, previously, data was not accessible in telecoms, but the regulator changed things by opening an era of Open data. In this new context, Pana stressed, media outlets have a major role to play in bettering telecom regulation in Togo. 

"Regulation by data can not thrive without the contribution of journalists who, through the production of analysis and relevant content, enlighten and guide the choice of consumers," the Communication Advisor said.

This, the regulator emphasized, will require optimizing editorial content to turn telecom service consumers into more than consumers. Hervé Pané believes they should become actors or rather micro-regulators of telecoms. To this end, the ARCEP plans to organize more masterclasses and workshops.  

Covering the 2021-2023 period, the ARCEP’s new strategy aligns with the goals of the Togolese government. This plan involves setting up several operational sites, which will fuel Togo’s digital transformation, improve and boost competition, and better protect consumer rights. To date, 60% of the projects falling under the regulator’s strategy have been completed. 

Octave A. Bruce

The UN Development Program (UNDP), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and France will help Togo better tackle tax evasion. 

Last Tuesday, the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR), in partnership with France’s Public Finance General Directorate, the OECD, and UNDP, launched a program to this end. Present at the launch was Essien Atta-Kakran, Togo’s Customs Commissioner and Acting Tax Commissioner of the OTR. 

Named “L’inspecteur des impôts sans frontières” (IISF or tax inspector without border in English), “the program focuses on technical support relative to tax verification,” the OTR said. 

The IISSF was operational in around 50 countries in 2021. It helps developed countries fight tax evasion, notably by reinforcing their capacities in areas such as international tax verification, surveying tax crimes, and the efficient use of automatically exchanged data. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The new director-general of the International Labor Office, Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, met with President Faure Gnassingbé last Tuesday, May 17, in Lomé. During his audience with the Togolese leader, Houngbo told him about the priorities he will focus on throughout his mandate, knowingly reducing the cost of living, bolstering social protection, and getting actors of the informal sectors to formalize their business. 

“One of my priorities will be the international response to issues of the household basket and rising inflation which we are concerned about at ILO. We also, as much as possible, help universalize social protection. The sector linked to this social protection is the informal sector. We will dedicate ourselves to boosting productivity and formalizing the informal sector so that it contributes more optimally to the economic life of countries,” ILO’s new boss told President Gnassingbé.

Houngbo, who was once Togo’s Prime Minister, also intends to tackle ecologic transition issues, child labor, and modern slavery.

Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo currently heads the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The 11th Director-General of ILO and the first African to hold the position, he will officially take office next October.

Esaïe Edoh

The government of Togo recently reminded the country’s mass consumption exporters that the export of mass consumption goods is subject to prior authorization from the ministry of trade. The reminder came via a decree issued on May 16, 2022. 

The decree - which was signed by the ministers of agriculture, economy, security, and trade - adds that the authorization must be requested by the exporting party. Valid for 30 days, starting from the day of issue, the authorization certificate covers a single export, the decree states. 

Any actor who fails to comply with the decree “exposes themselves to sanctions and could even lose the authorization in question, in line with regulations in place.”

Though the new measure aims to tackle the general surge in prices in Togo (of food products especially), it is an extension of the measure issued in June 2021. 

Indeed, at the time, the government issued a similar decree that subjected the export of various products to prior authorization from the trade ministry. The goods concerned included corn, sorghum, millet, beans, rice, yam, cassava, and cassava flour. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

From May 16 to 31, the indicative price to the producers of superior quality cocoa has been set at CFA905 per kg, down 6% compared to the price set for the first two weeks of the month, knowingly CFA960.

Similarly, the price of Healthy Robusta coffee has been reduced from CFA860 to CFA845 per kg (-1.7%).  

The new indicator prices were disclosed by the Coordination Committee for the Coffee and Cocoa Sectors (CCFCC) which noted that they are determined based on global rates and calculated in relation to the July 2022 deadline. 

Between March 31 and May 16, 2022, the price of cocoa dropped by 6% while that of coffee rose by 1.8%, from CFA830 to CFA845.

Esaïe Edoh 

As part of the African Union’s Skill Initiative for Africa (SIFA) support mechanism, Germany’s development fund, KfW, will provide €6 million to two training institutions in Togo. The institutions, knowingly Tové’s national agricultural training institute (INFA) and FORMATEC, an institute for technological, economic, and administrative sciences, will share the funds equally. 

The related agreement was inked in Lomé on May 18, 2022, by the two institutions and the Togolese ministers for agriculture and technical education. 

More infrastructure and equipment

The agricultural institute of Tové said it would use the money to secure new research equipment and infrastructure to improve the training it offers women and most disadvantaged people.

"This project will help us improve our infrastructure. We will build an 88-place city for young girls, as part of an initiative to train the youth, women, and vulnerable groups,” said Soedji Kokouvi, Director-General of the Tové’s INFA. 

The development includes setting up a media library, an agro-food complex, a waste-processing unit, and acquiring material and equipment like tractors.

For its part, FORMATEC said it would use the financing to build new research facilities, including a top-notch construction lab, and a renewable energy training center for 1,000 beneficiaries. 

Togo adhered to the SIFA in 2018, becoming one of the program’s eight pilot countries in Africa.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Initially scheduled for 3 April 2021 and postponed due to Covid-19, the gala evening of distinction of the 100 most dynamic Togolese companies will take place on May 27, 2022, in Lome. ECO Finance Enterprise, the firm behind the event disclosed the new date last Tuesday. 

According to the organizers, the 100 firms will be selected based on four criteria; expertise, innovation, market penetration ability, and impact on the national economy (through job creation).

Held since 2012 in ECOWAS countries and Gabon, the gala celebrates businesses and people that contribute to the economy.  

"It is also a dynamic that aims to promote investment" in the countries, especially "by highlighting African companies," said Djibril Barry, CEO of ECO Finance Enterprise.

 is the third time that Togo will host the event. It previously did in 2016 and 2019. 

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese government officially started assessing its public finance management on May 17, 2022. The launch ceremony was attended by the country’s technical and financial partners, such as the European Union delegation in Togo (represented by Joaquín Tasso Vilallonga, head of its Delegation) which supports the initiative.

On the occasion, Sani Yaya, Togo’s minister of finance, said the PEFA-based assessment "covers the years 2018-2020 and will allow to better manage public finances towards implementing Togo’s projects contained in the Government Roadmap 2025."

The assessment will be carried out in four steps: launching the evaluation, training major stakeholders, drawing and validating the methodological note, conducting fieldwork for finalizing data collection and analysis, producing and pre-validating provisional reports, and holding a restitution and dissemination workshop where the final reports will be be be presented.

Results of the assessment, which will cover the entire public administration and the ministries, are expected by the end of the year.

"The implementation of these activities will provide our country with a new basis for assessing the performance of public financial management and the consideration of gender and climate change in public management," added Minister Sani Yaya.