The Presidents of Togo and Kazakhstan, Faure Gnassingbe and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had a phone call yesterday, October 3. The two leaders talked about deepening their cooperation, in sectors like trade, investments, transport, logistics, and agriculture.

Le Président de la République, @FEGnassingbe a eu entretien téléphonique avec son homologue de la République du Kazakhstan, @TokayevKZ, ce 03 octobre 2023 sur les enjeux et défis du renforcement de la coopération bilatérale et des sujets d’ordre continental et international.

Les… pic.twitter.com/WvHmonslWA

— Présidence Togolaise/Togolese Presidency (@PresidenceTg) October 3, 2023

Gnassingbe and his counterpart discussed issues concerning the African continent and current international affairs. They lauded the relationship between Lomé and Astana.

This relationship will be 10 years old next year and its anniversary will be an occasion to mark a new step in the win-win cooperation, especially as the Central Asian country has a highly diversified economy (oil, uranium, potassium, cereals, textiles, livestock, among others), and Togo is in the process of attracting foreign investors.

As part of the U.S. food aid program, over 200 schools in Togo will get support to feed students. Deployed on the ground by Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the initiative targets nearly 155,000 students (154,675), providing them with daily meals, for five years.

Over the period, the U.S. will ship more than 5,000 tonnes of vegetable oil, peas, rice, and cornmeal to Togo. Local products will be added to this. The support is valued at $33 million (about CFA20 billion).

In detail, it is the US State Department of Agriculture, through its McGovern-Dole International Food Program for Child Education and Nutrition, that will provide the resources.

The new program adds to others like the school canteens program, which is backed by the World Bank Group and has profited over 95,000 students in 2021.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo's updated score on the World Bank's CPIA 2023 report could enable the country to secure more funds from the Bank. This is according to Fily Sissoko, Resident Representative of the lender in Togo.

"This is an extremely important score because it also allows us to mobilize even more resources," said Fily Sissoko. Moreover, "This score far exceeds the World Bank's IDA country average worldwide. Togo's 2022 increase is the biggest increase of all the countries listed."

Out of 39 African countries evaluated in the report, Togo ranked among the top five, with a score of 3.7 points, up from 3.0 in 2016. 

"Togo is positioned with this extremely important score, very well, on themes such as economic management, structural policies, and social inclusion policies. There are still efforts to be made and we hope that Togo will be able to continue working to, why not, reach a score of 4, which is very close to that of emerging Asian countries," Sissoko added.

Future progress areas

Areas where the country could make further progress include budget management and transparency.

"We will continue to work with you in the area of public finance reforms, social protection, budget management, and transparency so that you can therefore continue to improve the CPIA score and mobilize even more resources", the World Bank representative declared.

It is worth emphasizing that Togo’s improvements in recent years, as confirmed by the World Bank's CPIA reports, allowed the West African nation to secure over $1.13 billion from the Bretton Woods institution.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Enselme Gouthon is the new president of the International Coffee Organization (ICO). The Togolese was appointed last Friday, September 29, during the 5th World Coffee Conference in India.

With 40 years of experience in the coffee industry, Gouthon takes the place of Max Massimiliano Fabian. Some of the challenges that the ICO’s new president will face include ensuring the sector’s sustainability, stabilizing the global prices market, climate change adaptation, and technological innovation. The Togolese will also focus on improving economic conditions in developing countries, which are an essential link in the coffee production chain.

On the sidelines of the conference, Enselme Gouthon was also honored by the Indian authorities and the Coffee Board of India, in recognition of his commitment to developing the production and consumption of African and world coffee and supporting farmers' incomes. In addition to being ICO’s president, Gouthon also heads the Robusta Coffee Agency of Africa and Madagascar (ACRAM) and is Secretary General of the Coordination Committee for the coffee and cocoa sectors (CCFCC) in Togo.

Organized by the ICO and the Indian Ministry of Trade, this year’s World Coffee conference gathered 2,600 delegates from 80 countries. 

The ICO is the leading intergovernmental organization in the coffee sector. It facilitates dialogue between exporting and importing countries. Its members make up 98% of the world’s coffee production and take in over 67% of world coffee consumption.
Fiacre E. Kakpo

The US will support several rural organizations in Togo, via its Self-Help program and Resilience Fund. The support, totaling CFA100 million, was recently revealed by the US Embassy in Lomé.

According to the embassy, under the Self-Help program, 19 organizations will receive CFA43.4 million (or $70,000). The program aims to improve the living standards of rural people across the country, supporting various projects in sectors like agriculture, health, and education.

The Resilience Fund, for its part, will provide six rural organizations with CFA62 million (or $100,000), to help them better prevent and fight youth recruitment by terrorist groups, in the Savanes region. The initiative, the embassy noted, aims to foster stability and sustainable development in the region, while building the capacities of local communities. 

Launched in 1964, the Self-Help program grants a maximum of $5,000 to supported organizations, enabling them to back development projects in given communities.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Togolese Ministry of Housing and Urbanism wants to set up a land brigade to fight double land sales,  which is the illegal practice of re-selling land that has already been acquired. The project was disclosed last week during a meeting between some of the sector’s actors and the board of the Togolese Surveyors’ Order (OGT).

"Together with the other departments, we want to help resolve the conflicts our people often face, especially when buying land they can't even occupy,” said Koffitsè Besseh, Director General of Geographic Information and Cartography at the Ministry of Urban Planning, Housing and Land Reform. "The Minister is currently discussing with his entire department to set up this land brigade and take concrete measures." 

The Surveyors’ Order said it would help the government in the process. "We want to collaborate with all the ministerial departments that use the land, as the issue of double sales, or even triple sales, affects communities," declared Nikada Atcholadi, chairman of the OGT board. In this regard, he mentioned the strengthening of public-private partnerships.

Togo has made significant progress in implementing its cooperation program with the European Union for the period 2021-2023. This was one of the conclusions of the recent review of the EU's portfolio in Togo. Chaired by Sandra Ablamba Johnson, Minister, and Secretary General of Togo’s Presidency, the meeting took place on September 26th.

The review, according to the Togolese Presidency, highlighted successes in three key areas: human development and socio-economic inclusion, sustainable agro-industries, natural resource management, and the consolidation of a peaceful and resilient Togolese society.

"The rate of absorption of financial commitments by Togo is remarkable. This paves the way for a new allocation for the next period. Both sides are satisfied. This is the fruit of the very close cooperation between Togo and the European Union,” said Joaquin Tasso Vilallonga, European Union Ambassador to Togo.

Commenting on the matter, Sandra Ablamba Johnson underscored the contribution of the review to the effective implementation of EU-financed projects and said there would be a mid-year review next year. 

"For effective implementation, a monitoring system has been set up for the various projects. This is the purpose of the present meeting, which aims to define the various constraints and reflect on approaches to pragmatic solutions. This review is therefore timely in that, for the first phase of the 2021-2024 multi-year program, a mid-term evaluation is scheduled for next year, and its results will determine how much will be needed for the second phase in 2025-2027,” Johnson said.

For the past few years, the partnership between Togo and the EU has been based on the major programs of the government's roadmap (Togo 2025). In this framework, several financing agreements were signed to support these programs, notably programs to fight climate change, grow agro-industries, and boost State resilience.

Two agreements were signed in October 2022. Under the first deal, the EU backed an anti-climate change program with €30 million. Under the second, Togo received €25 million to bolster its public services. The latter financing breaks down into €10 million from the EU and €15 million from France. 

Similarly, two financing agreements were signed last April for the 2022 action plan. The first covers a program to support the development of agro-industries (totaling €82 million, including €30 million provided by the EU, and the remaining €82 million by France and Germany). The second agreement will help the State build resilience, through a €45 million financing.

Ayi Renaud Dossav

Togo is a must-see destination for tourists, according to Kossi Gbégnon Lamadokou,  the country’s Minister of Culture and Tourism. The official made the statement last Wednesday, September 27, 2023, on International Tourism Day.

"We can proudly claim that Togo is becoming a must-see destination at the sub-regional level," said Lamadokou. He backed his claim with the number of tourists that Togo receives yearly.

In 2022, one million tourists visited the country. This is the same as in 2021 when 983,969 visitors came, generating CFA25 billion in revenues for Togo.

In 2020, just over 480,000 tourists visited, generating about CFA19 billion.

Minister Lamadokou attributes the improvements to various steps taken by the government to bolster the sector and make it more attractive.

"Making tourism a priority sector in its five-year roadmap is not a decision that the government took randomly, and looking at the current results it was a judicious decision,” said the official.

Since 2020, many steps have been taken to boost tourism in Togo. These include enhancing the Koutammakou cultural heritage site and updating the country’s cultural policy.

Esaïe Edoh