Lomé is hosting since October 23 a five-day regional meeting on civil aviation. Gathered at the roundtable are WAEMU experts and technical executives of the sector.

Participants will plan and draw short, medium, and long-term forecasts for air operations; economic factors and other data involved in the development of ground plans; and the assessment of the capacity of facilities and services.

The drawn plans will enable airports of the WAEMU region to comply with the new standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

"Master plans are intended to support the modernization of existing airfields regardless of their size, complexity, or role. They provide information on the types of improvements to be made progressively," said the General Manager of Société Aéroportuaire de Lomé Tokoin (SALT), Colonel Dimini Allahare.

According to the WAEMU Commission, the meeting in Lomé will also tackle the lack of master plans, or vision, for many airports across the WAEMU.

In line with efforts to modernize the facility, officials of the Lomé airport said a "master plan for the period 2024-2044 has been announced, with other projects that will help position Lomé airport as a hub for air traffic in West Africa".

In 2012, a major modernization project was launched; a new terminal was subsequently built and commissioned in 2016.

Esaïe Edoh

The Togolese government recently adopted a decree to regulate the use of public transport vehicles, including taxis, taxi-bikes, and tuk-tuks. The decree was adopted last week at the Council of Ministers. 

The move aims to tackle several issues, such as road insecurity, air pollution, and low profits in the public transport sector. 

Drawn in collaboration with representatives of professional transport organizations, the decree sets clear rules for public transportation drivers. Among others, they will need a permit issued by the Ministry of transport and an authorization certificate from the territorial collectivities.

The measures should enable "better organization of public transport, professionalization of the sector's players, better identification of cabs and their scope of activity, as well as improved road safety and better comfort for passengers", according to the Council. 

A few weeks before the decree’s adoption, the government held a meeting with actors of the transport sector. On the occasion, the authorities said the actors had two years to comply with the new regulations adopted in 2022. 

"Persons previously engaged in public transport by cab, motorcycle cab or tricycle have twenty-four months to comply with the new provisions", the government indicated.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Togolese minister of water and rural hydraulics, Yark Damehane, launched last Friday the third phase of the PASSCO, a project to improve health conditions in rural and school environments. Under this phase, 200,000 people in rural areas will get drinking water by 2025. 

In detail, 850 boreholes will be built and equipped with manual pumps. The French Development Agency (AFD) will finance this part of the project with CFA6.5 billion. 

During the first two phases of the PASSCO project, 844 boreholes were built. The third phase, according to Minister Damehane, will help the government achieve universal access to water, a goal it aims to reach by 2030.

"Access to drinking water must be an absolute priority in our quest for development. This stems from the Head of State's vision, the government's roadmap for the period 2020-2025, and our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 6," Damehane said.

Esaïe Edoh

In the past 10 years, BOA Togo has had over 65,000 accounts opened.  The milestone was disclosed by Youssef Ibrahimi, Managing Director BOA Togo, at the launch of the bank's Tin Jubilee celebrations.

The accounts, according to the lender’s management, are mostly owned by individuals and SME owners. 

BOA Togo has been active for 10 years now. In 2021, it was the eighth biggest bank in the country, with assets standing at CFA189.8 billion, 8% more than in 2020–CFA174 billion. In the same year, 2021, customer deposits reached CFA94 billion, while net outstanding loans stood at CFA75 billion, down 2% YoY. 

BOA is one of the banks that supports SMEs the most in Togo. In April 2023, the banking group secured a $77 million facility from the IFC to cover 50% of the risks on a loan portfolio of up to $154 million, intended for SMEs in ten African countries including Togo.

In Togo, BOA has 14 branches, with 94.5% of the subsidiary owned by BOA WEST AFRICA, the West African holding company of the BOA Group, controlled by Morocco's BMCE. 

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo's National Solidarity Agency (ASN), will undergo institutional and organizational reforms. The move was spurred by President Faure Gnassingbé himself. 

Announced at the latest Council of Ministers meeting last Friday, the reforms will, according to the government, help the Agency adapt to the new administrative ecosystem and meet the country’s current challenges of indigence and vulnerability.

“The ASN faces operational constraints and challenges in terms of efficiency and management,” the Council noted. 

Active since 1992, the National Solidarity Agency (ASN) is in charge of drawing and implementing national policy and solidarity mechanisms that take care of vulnerable people. It is also responsible for creating and developing assistance functions in the event of risks and disasters.

Esaïe Edoh

As part of the Food for Progress program, Togo will receive $29.8 million from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The funds will bolster Togolese agriculture, overall, and horticulture in particular. The program will be steered by the "Lutheran World Relief" (LWR), a US organization that promotes sustainable agricultural practices.

Already, LWR is looking for top management to roll out the project in Togo, over 5 years.

This is the first time that Togo is receiving financial support under the "Food for Progress" program. However, it is not the first time that it has had support from the USDA. Earlier this month, it secured $33 million from the agency for a school canteen initiative, under the "McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program".

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

This month, the WURI biometric ID project launched the second proof of concept for its enrolment platform.

Scheduled to end on November 4, 2023, this phase of the project aims to enroll at least 2,000 people in the Grand Lomé area, the Maritime, Central, and Plateaux regions. The first proof of concept was carried out from April 20 to May 26, 2022.

In the Grand Lomé, this new phase will be the prefectures of Golfe and Agoè-Nyivé. In the Maritime region, it will cover the chief districts of the Lacs, Vo, Yoto, and Zio prefectures. In the Plateaux and Central regions, it will cover Ogou and Tchaoudjo, respectively.

Among others, the proof of concept tests on the Togo e-ID platform aims to validate the ability of registrars to deploy and configure tools, check QR code compliance, test the autonomy of registration kits and their integration with the MOSIP system (the identification platform), as well as communication and awareness-raising.

The end goal of the WURI project is to issue each Togolese resident with a unique identification number, which will help them interact with the administration and the various public and private entities more easily. It is a five-year project backed by the World Bank ($72 million).

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo and Benin inked on October 18, 2023, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Lomé for the implementation of community roaming between the two countries. The signing followed a two-day meeting on roaming regulation in the ECOWAS. The talks gathered mobile operators from Benin and Togo and the two countries' telecom regulators.

The deal enables Togolese residents traveling to Benin to enjoy the same rates as Benin’s residents for outgoing calls and messages. That is for 30 days. Within the same period, incoming calls and messages will be free.

"Reciprocally, consumers in Benin will also benefit from the same advantages and billing terms for roaming services when traveling in Togo," the regulators of both countries noted.

Under the MoU’s terms, roaming rates have been lowered as well. A minute's call to Togo for a Togolese visiting Benin will now cost CFA90, against CFA1,393 before–thus 15 times cheaper. Likewise, mobile Internet services will be billed at a maximum of CFA2.2 per MB for Togolese consumers visiting Benin, compared with up to CFA8,000 per MB –3,600 times cheaper.

The two countries also agreed to lower the rates for international calls between them.  These are now capped at CFA90 per minute, against CFA225 before.

The deal will come into effect on January 1, 2024.

Esaïe Edoh

A Togolese delegation was in the US last month on a mission to explore private American companies active in the digital sector. The mission was carried out as part of the formulation process for the Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) 'Compact' Program, by the Compact Program's National Coordination for Togo.

During the trip, the Togolese delegation presented the West African country’s vision for the digital, as well as projects that are being drawn with the MCC. Also, the representatives were on the lookout for potential tech partners for Togo.

Among others, the delegation visited companies including Mastercard, Visa, and AmazonBloc Inc. It also held talks with Stanford University, venture capital firms, incubators, and executives from the Port of Los Angeles.

Togo, it is worth noting, became eligible for the Compact Program in December 2022. The country is working on several connectivity projects to overcome bottlenecks in the ICT and energy sectors. According to reliable sources, these projects could benefit from major financial assistance from the US. 

Esaïe Edoh