Togo First
Property Transfer in Togo: Improvements recorded between 2018 and 2021
Togo processed 1,125 property transfer requests in 2021, up from 252 in 2018. According to the country’s Business Climate Cell (CCA) which released the figures on Feb 21, 2022, this represents a jump of over 300%.
The CCA attributes the performance mainly to the digitization of 99.32% of land titles in the country, making it easier to research data related to the titles. Other reasons include the establishment of a property transfer office, and fixing transfer fees to CFA35,000 instead of taking 4% of the transaction’s amount as done previously.
As of the end of April 2020, the property transfer process took a maximum of six hours to be completed. The following month, 90 transfer requests were processed, within 3 hours on average; this is against 60 per month for the whole quarter going from January to March the same year, and an average processing time of 8 days per request.
In parallel, the number of mortgages registered was up as well, by 39%, climbing from 670 in 2020 to 933 in 2021. This is consequent to steps taken by the government to speed up related procedures; such as reducing the processing time to 4 days on average from 15, between the two years. Measures were also introduced to make bank loans more accessible to private operators.
All reforms undertaken by Togo regarding property transfer enabled the country to soar in the Doing Business rankings - in 2020 and 2021- before the index was taken down. These reforms also bolstered FDIs in the country to over CFA352 billion in 2020, from CFA191 billion in 2019, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Esaïe Edoh
UMOA securities market: Where are Togo’s biggest lenders based?
Togo's debt on the sub-regional financial market (Umoa) is mainly held by investors based in Togo, according to data from the Umoa Securities Agency in its latest quarterly report.
Indeed, at the end of December 2021, more than 30% of the country's public securities portfolio, or CFA424 billion, was held by local investors, the vast majority of them from the banking sector.
After Togolese investors, Ivorian investors were the country’s biggest lenders with more than CFA248 billion or 17.55% of the claims. The two are immediately followed by Burkina Faso (CFA240 billion or 16.95%), Benin (CFAF 210 billion), Senegal (CFA183 billion, or 12.94%). A little behind is Mali with CFA83 billion (5.85%), Niger with CFA17 billion (1.2%), and Guinea Bissau (CFA9 billion, 0.67%).
Most holders of the Togolese debt are commercial banks (90% in 2021 according to the UMOA-securities agency). According to the latest available data (2019), the largest banks investing in Togolese securities are Coris Bank, BOA, Orabank, Ecobank, and UTB.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: pump price of petroleum products has not been increased, the government informs
The government of Togo does not plan to increase the pump prices of petroleum products in the country. The information was disclosed by the Ministry of Trade, to put an end to some misleading rumors that caused a rush to the stations, in Lomé especially.
The ministry explained that the rumors are due to “tensions in the supply of petroleum products.” It added that things “should be returning to normal starting from Saturday, February 19, 2022.” Kodjo Adedze, the minister of trade, also warned all retailers “against abnormal business practices, such as price increases or product retention,” saying “they are severely punishable by the law.”
To date, pump prices of petroleum products are as follows: Super Unleaded at 505 FCFA per liter, Lamp oil at 400 FCFA per liter, Gasoil at 520 FCFA per liter, and the 2-stroke mixture at 606 FCFA per liter.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togolese government and Canal+ ink deal to make public TV station TVT accessible to more viewers
The Togolese television TVT has been added to CANAL+’s paid offer which is available in around 50 countries, in sub-Saharan Africa and the world. The related partnership agreement was signed last Friday, February 18, 2022, between the Togolese State and Canal+ Africa. The two partners were respectively represented by Akodah Ayewouadan, Minister of Communication and Media, and David Mignot, CEO of CANAL+ Africa.
Under the three-year contract, renewable, CANAL+ will broadcast TVT in high definition (HD) as soon as decoder migration is complete (in Q1 2023). TVT, which is currently available on channel no.260 of the Canal+ bouquet, will have a better position after Canal+ sets up a service plan specifically for Togo.
Besides, the deal will boost the quality of programs and images broadcasted on Togo’s first TV station. To this end, the TVT staff will benefit from Canal+’s technical support.
According to Minister Ayewouadan, the new partnership is consistent with Togo's commitment to shift from analog to DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television). In line with this commitment, the government has been working to transform the country's audiovisual landscape through various projects, such as the merger and transformation of Télévision Togolaise, Radio Lomé, Radio Kara, and the Audiovisual Production Agency (ANPA).
Esaïe Edoh
UNESCO backs Togo’s efforts to improve its education system
UNESCO will help Togo improve its education system. Last Thursday, the UN body held a meeting in Lomé, to assess the country’s needs in this sector, in line with the Educational Resources project which was launched in June 2021 and will be financed by the French Development Agency (AFD).
The meeting, which gathered actors of the education sector, allowed UNESCO to identify the steps it needs to take to help improve education in Togo. Ultimately, the organization’s support should enable the West African country to bolster its strategy for producing and disseminating educational resources, including textbooks.
Among others, UNESCO said it noticed that many French-speaking countries, including Togo, lacked textbooks and other educational resources essential for quality education. Hence, 16 countries will benefit from this project, starting with Togo and two others picked as pilot countries.
Over the past years, Togolese authorities have undertaken several initiatives to improve education. The latest is a project that aims to build 30,000 classrooms in the country by 2025.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Ministry of water launches new project to make drinking water more accessible in the maritime region
The Togolese Ministry of Water and Village Hydraulics launched last Thursday the operational phase of the PAGEPC, a project that aims to improve access to clean water and sanitation in the Avé 2 and Zio 2 municipalities. The project will be carried out by Pionniers en Action pour le Développement Intégré à l'Environnement (PADIE), a private association, at a cost of CFA437 million.
Concretely, the PAGEPC will involve supplying technical services related to clean water and sanitation, rehabilitation works, extending water networks, providing financial support, and training delegated managers in the municipalities concerned. It will also lead to the creation of a local institution and legal framework to manage clean water and sanitation facilities.
Bolidja Tièm, the minister of water, said that the project “falls under the National Action Plan for the Water and Sanitation Sector (PANSEA), the Support Program for Reforms and Governance (PARG), the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2022, and the 2020-2025 Presidential Roadmap.”
Planned over three years, this project is a pilot initiative of decentralized cooperation to create and experiment with the delegation of services to a private operator, it is indicated.
Togo, it should be emphasized, wants to achieve universal access to drinking water by 2030. Data from the ministry of water shows that respectively 60%, 50%, and 69% of urban, semi-urban, and rural areas have access to the resource presently. In 2022, the government, under its budget, intends to spend CFA23 billion to boost access to drinking water in the country.
Esaïe Edoh
WACA: Togo secures $12 million from World Bank’s IDA to protect its coastline
As part of the West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA), Togo received another $12 million (CFA7 billion) from the International Development Association (IDA) near the end of December 2021. Togo First obtained the information from experts close to the matter.
The funds, which are equally divided into a loan and a grant, will be used to continue anti-erosion works in one of the two areas that are most threatened by the phenomenon in Togo. The coastline concerned spans 18 km, going from Agbodrafo to Aného.
Togo received the financing at the same time as Benin which secured $24 million to protect 23km of its coastline.
Excluding the $12 million recently provided, funding for the WACA Togo project currently stands at $55 million. It was provided by the World Bank ($45 million), the Global Environment Facility ($7.5 million), and the Togolese State ($3 million), for five years.
The West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program is deployed in six West African countries that have access to the sea. In Togo, it covers the Mono, Zio, and Haho basins, as well as the Southern Togo lagoon zone and the Gbaga canal which are shared by Togo and Benin.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Free Birth Certificates: Government to reimburse issuance costs to municipalities
The government of Togo said on February 14 that it would repay all of the country’s 117 municipalities the costs of issuing birth certificates, in line with the law instituting the free provision of this document in the country.
According to a decree jointly issued by Payadowa Boukpessi and Sani Yaya, respectively the minister of territorial administration and the minister of finance, "the municipalities will receive CFA1,000 for every certificate issued.”
The funds will be repaid every quarter provided that the municipality presents proper evidence and statement. The statement will be verified by prefects before being sent to the two ministries.
Regarding the measure making birth certificate issuance free in Togo, it was in effect since January 1, 2022, according to the government’s spokesman Christian Trimua. The measure could, according to Trimua, cost the State up to CFA 300 million.
Esaïe Edoh
Covid-19: After the UK and US, France also considers Togo among the safest destinations
France recently classified Togo among the least risky countries, regarding the pandemic. The announcement comes as the European country relaxes sanitary measures as vaccination levels worldwide go up.
Togo is, according to Paris, among countries with “negligible or moderate circulation of the virus, in the absence of an emerging variant of concern.” France thus walks in the steps of the UK and the US which declared Togo safe in 2021.
Besides Togo, other West African nations in the “green” are Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Senegal.
For Togolese travelers, France’s announcement means they should have less trouble going to the European country. In effect, “no more tests are required at departure” for those vaccinated (with vaccines recognized by the EU). “Once again, a proof of full vaccination is enough to arrive in France, regardless of the country of origin, as was the case before the spread of the Omicron variant,” said Paris.
“For unvaccinated travelers, the obligation to present a negative test to travel to France remains, but the measures on arrival (test, isolation) do not apply to those from green-listed countries,” the French government added.
Unlike Togo, countries such as the United States, Canada, Niger, Benin, or Nigeria are still in the "Orange" category.
So far, over 2.6 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Togo - that equals 30.4 doses per 100 people or 17.1% of the population who received at least one dose of the vaccine, against 13% who are fully vaccinated (with two doses).
Last week, the National Coordination for the Management of the Response to Covid-19 (CNGR) confirmed the sharp decline in cases recorded in the country, contrasting with the peak registered at the end of 2021 due to the Omicron variant.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: The capital of Société d’Infrastructures Numériques now exceeds CFA14 billion
The capital of the Société d'infrastructures numériques (SIN), a sovereign entity responsible for holding strategic assets in the telecommunications and ICT sector in Togo, has been raised to around 14.2 billion FCFA, Togo First learned.
Established in November 2016 by presidential decree, the SIN was endowed with a capital of 200 million FCFA, fully subscribed and paid up by the Togolese state.
The recent increase in its capital happens in a context where the government has been, since 2017, integrating several strategic assets into the company’s portfolio. One of these assets is the first Internet Exchange Point of Togo (IXP) launched in 2017. There is also Lomé’s first data center - the Carrier Hotel - or the huge program to deploy fiber optics cable for the public administration and the E-gouv project. Also, since January 2021, a decree requires individuals and businesses undertaking new construction projects to systematically deploy fiber optics on behalf of SIN at their own expense.
Since it was created, the SIN’s missions have changed significantly. They now cover more technical aspects in telecoms, financial activities of portfolio management, or even economic activities related to the collection of royalties.
The company which is headed by Attia Byll was launched under the WARCIP or West African Regional Communications Infrastructure Development Program. This program, initiated by the World Bank, aims to improve internet connectivity in Togo, make the internet more affordable and create an enabling environment for the digital economy in the country.
Fiacre E. Kakpo