The National Health Insurance Institute of Togo (INAM) is no longer the sole manager of the Universal Health Insurance (UHI) project in the country. The National Social Security Fund (CNSS) has joined it, following the examination and adoption of a decree on October 11, 2023, at a Council of Ministers meeting.

According to the Ministers, associating the CNSS with the project should “accelerate the operationalization of the universal health insurance and broaden the scope of insured persons.”

After the recent development, the Universal Health Insurance project now takes into account three categories of beneficiaries: public and assimilated employees, private sector workers, and vulnerable persons.  Expanding the pool of the insured, according to the government, "calls for the adoption of a new architecture, with an implementation strategy that leverages, not only the INAM's experience but also that of CNSS, relative to social protection management.”

The CNSS will, specifically, manage universal health insurance for salaried employees and pensioners in the private sector, self-employed workers in the informal and agricultural sectors, and religious ministers.

Meanwhile, the INAM will manage the universal health insurance scheme for civil servants and those receiving civil and military pensions. It will also cover vulnerable individuals and households.

The Universal Health Insurance project is set to launch on January 1, 2024. Ahead of its operationalization, the council of ministers adopted on October 4, 2023, several decrees structuring the project, with the aim of “guaranteeing wider access to healthcare for the population.”

Esaïe Edoh

Morocco’s OCP Group and the World Bank have signed, on Oct. 11, a partnership agreement to boost food security and agriculture in West Africa.

The agreement, a memorandum of understanding, was signed by Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for West and Central Africa, and OCP Group Chairman Mostafa Terrab in Morocco.

In detail, the deal will support programs targeting five million farmers in Togo, Benin, Guinea, and Mali, over ten million hectares. It will also speed up investments and reforms aimed at helping farmers access fertilizers, more easily and at cheaper prices

The agreement will focus on improving soil health and fertility, training small farmers, developing digital agriculture programs, building ECOWAS capacity, and creating a Regional Soil Health Center for West Africa, among others.

"This partnership between the World Bank and OCP Group puts the Lomé Declaration into action.", said Ousmane Diagana, adding that "our two institutions believe in the need to accelerate reforms and investments for resilient agriculture, the promotion of sustainable development and job creation."

Read also: Togo inks agreement with Morocco to set up a local phosphate fertilizer factory

"This project is a crucial step in unlocking Africa's potential for global food security," said Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of OCP Group. "The aim is to foster an equitable and sustainable agricultural transition by giving West African farmers access to specially designed fertilizers to improve their yields and incomes, thereby contributing to the region's development," he added.

This partnership is thus intended as continuity, to support the commitments made by the Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security of ECOWAS member countries, as defined in the Lomé declaration on fertilizers and soil health in West Africa and the Sahel. 

It should be noted that the World Bank has pledged to raise its agricultural investments in West and Central Africa from $4 billion to $5.5 billion by 2024.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Togolese telecom watchdog, ARCEP, is calling on the country’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to reduce their rates, for mobile Internet, making them affordable for the population. Made via a press release on October 10, the call was prompted by concerns issued regarding the Wi-Fi zone activity in the country. These concerns were voiced by the Association of Wi-Fi zone operators in Togo, who feared the activity would die.

“Wifi zone” is a project that was launched in response to high internet tariffs in Togo, which the ARCEP often deplored.

According to the regulator, mobile internet tariffs in Togo are less affordable than in neighboring countries, and the country lacks fiber internet offers tailored to low-income households.

Wifi Zone framing

The ARCEP said it strives to enable Wi-Fi zone operators to operate legally and to protect them from possible abuse by ISPs. However, it called on operators to comply with regulatory provisions.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togolese Prime Minister, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, launched yesterday, Oct. 10, the Urban Water Security Project (PaSH-MUT). Launched in Lomé, the capital, the project will help more people have drinking water in the Greater Lomé area. 

According to PM Tomegah-Dogbe, the PaSH-MUT should enable almost a million people in the Greater Lomé area to benefit from better services, related to water supply. The official added that 200,000 people living in this area will be connected, for the first time, to drinking water networks.

"This project covers a range of areas from drinking water supply to sanitation, water resource management, hygiene, and institutional strengthening with a major impact on young girls in schools," said Minister of State, Minister of Water and Village Hydraulics, Yark Damehane.

In detail, during implementation, six autonomous drinking water supply systems will be set up in the outlying areas of Lomé. Moreover, the project will boost the water supply capacity of the Togolaise Des Eaux (TDE) in the Lomé municipality.

More specifically, boreholes, water supply, treatment, and storage systems will be built and rehabilitated under the project. And water distribution networks will be replaced and extended; all in line with the Greater Lomé Master Plan.

The World Bank has backed the project with $100 million. After its launch yesterday, Fily Sissoko, the Bank’s representative in Togo, said: “This project supports the sector reform framework, notably by mobilizing the private sector to help Togo provide water in sufficient quantity and quality to the greatest number of households in Greater Lomé.”

Esaïe Edoh

In Togo, the Plateforme industrielle d'Adétikopé (PIA) and its risk-sharing-based Agricultural Financing Mechanism (MIFA) recently provided 22 agricultural cooperatives with tractors. The handover ceremony took place on September 29, in Lomé.

In detail, the cooperatives received 24 tractors and accessories including plows, cultivators, seeders, and trailers.

The equipment, according to the PIA and MIFA, will help tackle labor shortages, while increasing sowing area and improving farmers’ revenues. 

“These are tractors that have been sold to them (ed. Note: the farmers) but they have the choice to repay over 3 or 4 years. So they will have to work and over the years, and at harvest, they will deliver these products directly to us, or the PIA and we will gradually deduct the money until the payment is settled,” said Laté Tété, MIFA's Director of Technical Operations and Projects.

Through this move, the PIA supports the growth of Togo’s industrial fabric, helps valorize local products, and fosters wealth creation and youth employment.

The military court of Lomé launched its activities last Monday, October 9. The court kicked off operations during an awareness-raising workshop attended by representatives of the various branches of the Togolese armed forces and other stakeholders.

The workshop sought to specify the cases handled by military courts, and the conditions under which these cases can be referred to them, according to Col. Akobi Messan, Attorney General at the Military Court of Appeal.

Moreover, it has been revealed that only military magistrates will perform investigation and prosecution. 

The military courts, according to the Minister of Justice, Pius Agbetomey, will allow Togolese military staff to enjoy the same rights and duties as civilians.

"We have to build justice that is rendered in the name of the Togolese people. With the advent of military justice, the Togolese civilian will see the soldier as a brother, the soldier enjoys the same rights and obligations as him (ed. note: the civilian), and the soldier too is subject to the law," said Agbetomey, adding: "Military jurisdictions are designed to be run not only by magistrates of the civilian order but also by purely or less military magistrates trained for this purpose."

Prior to the launch of Lomé’s military court, eight specialized magistrates were selected to work at the court. They were selected by a presidential decree issued on April 24, 2023.

Augustin Favereau, the French ambassador to Togo, was given an audience yesterday, Oct. 10, by the country’s media regulator, the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC). Participants exchanged their respective views on the HAAC’s activities, and explored prospects for cooperation between France and Togo in the media sector.

"I was able to visit a number of departments. This enabled us to reflect together on the partnership between France and Togo in the media field," said Augustin Favereau after the audience. "Several initiatives are underway to strengthen the media," he added.

These initiatives focus on training journalists, building their expertise on fighting piracy, and consolidating media outlets.  Emphasis is also put on supporting media in local languages, thus contributing to the diversification and promotion of media communication in the country.

A European Union (EU) delegation met in Lomé with Togolese authorities on October 9, for their second dialogue. Amongst others, the participants covered the organization of Togo's upcoming legislative and regional elections, as well as the country’s actions against terrorism.

Regarding the elections, the EU called for inclusive and peaceful polls. “About preparations for the forthcoming legislative and regional elections in Togo, the European side took note of the Togolese government's efforts to pursue an inclusive, transparent, and peaceful electoral process,” reads the statement issued after the meeting. 

Also, the EU’s ambassador to Togo, Joaquin Tasso Vilallonga, said the Union would keep supporting Togo’s anti-terrorism projects, such as the Emergency Program for the Savannah Region (PURS).

Other topics discussed include human rights, good governance, progress in implementing the recommendations made during Togo's Universal Periodic Review in 2022; support for ECOWAS peace efforts, and the need for a return to constitutional order and civilian rule as soon as possible in countries under putschist regimes. 

The meeting with the EU delegation aligns with the partnership agreement between the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States and the EU (OACPS-EU). 

Esaïe Edoh