The government recently encouraged UN bodies in Togo to increase their actions, those that will greatly impact the people and accelerate inclusive development. In this framework, following a meeting to review the UN’s activities in the country, representatives from both sides picked some key areas where these actions can be carried out. They include health, education, and digitalization.

Specifically, these interventions should focus on “accelerating the inclusion of the people,” while ensuring that “no one is left out”, said Fatoumata Binta Diallo, WHO Resident Representative in Togo, and spokesperson for UN agencies. 

The Togolese government, for its part, believes that providing financial and technical support to key sectors defined by its development roadmap will help produce more tangible results for the benefit of the population. 

Back in December 2019, let’s recall, both parties renewed their cooperation framework for the period 2019-2023, and defined the action strategy of the entire UN system in Togo, a strategy focused on SDGs and the country's development priorities.

Esaïe Edoh 

Between its launch in 2016 and the end of December 2021, the Support Project for Youth Employability and Integration in Growth Sectors (PAEIJ-SP), distributed CFA17.2 billion to young Togolese agripreneurs, according to data provided by this program.

The sum is twice the CFA7.5 billion the institution planned to share over the period under review.  It was raised through 15 financial partner institutions (including microfinance institutions). These donors have financially supported a total of 669 young people against 780 planned, 1,457 SCOOPS (Cooperative Societies) against 1,000 initially planned, and 23 SMEs / SMIs, against 12 planned.  

Regarding technical support, the PAEIJ-SP said it supported 31 SMEs, against 12 planned; trained 1,420 young people (against 1200 initially planned) on the development of business plans and business creation, and supported 3,178 agricultural groups, against 1,000 planned.

The various initiatives led to the creation of more than 55,000 direct jobs, of which 27% were allotted to women, and nearly 750,000 seasonal jobs (of which 38% were for women). This is as a result of its technical support to the 31 SMEs/SMIs.

The PAIEJ-SP is co-financed by the government of Togo and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Deployed across the whole country, the program covers the following sectors: corn, cassava, soybeans, small ruminants, and poultry. Earlier this month, donors and agricultural actors involved in the project met to talk about the financing of the upcoming 2022-2023 agricultural campaign, with a focus on sustainability.

It’s been over 10 years since the Economic and Social Council (ESC) was approved by the Togolese Parliament. At last, the country plans to launch it this year. 

In this framework, the government allocated a budget of CFA500 million (payment credit) to the body which will advise public institutions, especially the Presidency and the Parliament, and take part in the elaboration of economic and social policies.

The ESC’s launch was reiterated on April 26, 2019, by President Faure Gnassingbé during his message to the nation. However, it took longer than expected, due to undisclosed reasons.

With the help of Morocco, Togo started recruiting the ESC’s staff in 2020. In all, the institution is to have 57 workers, including four officials picked by the President himself, two by the National Assembly, and one by the Prime Minister’s office. Other staff members will come from different socio-economic sectors. They will all be Togolese, be at least 30, and must have been working in their respective fields for a minimum of 10 years. 

The Economic and Social Council will be located in Aného, near the southern border with the Benin Republic.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Togo’s Treasury successfully closed, last Friday, its latest fundraising on the UMOA-securities. The country secured CFA35 billion by issuing fungible treasury bonds, with a 10-year maturity period and an interest rate of 5.90%.

This was Lomé’s third issue on the regional money market this year and according to the UMOA-Titres Agency, 22 regional investors subscribed, raising CFA69 billion, in total. That is twice the amount the country was seeking. 

Including Friday’s round, Togo raised so far into the year CFA99 billion on the regional market, out of CFA550 billion it will attempt to raise throughout 2022. A target that is slightly above the CFA530 billion fixed in the 2022 Finance Act.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo’s government plans to pump around CFA150 billion into its education system this year. The figure was set in the 2022 Finance Act. 

The amount is almost the same as that set in 2021 (CFA154 billion) before it was scaled down (to CFA137 billion) by the rectifying bill adopted at the end of the year. Most of the funds will be shared among the four departments of the ministry of education.   

In detail, preschool education, which is the least financed segment of the Togolese education system, will get, along with primary education, a budget of CFA85 billion this year.

The issue of preschool education is important because it is the education segment in which we invest the least.

In #Togo, although education takes up about 25% of the national budget, the share we devote to it is low. pic.twitter.com/7fivmOvN8U

—Faure E. Gnassingbé (@FEGnassingbe) July 29, 2021

Secondary education will receive CFA44 billion, while technical and vocational education is to get CFA9 billion. As for the handicraft sector, to which a delegated ministry has been dedicated in the government, CFA711 million was set aside for it.

Thinking of Tomorrow’s Education  

In the past 15 years, the budget allocated to education in Togo has increased sevenfold. More importantly, a wave of modernization projects washed over the sector over the last 15 months. They were aimed at improving the access to education, its quality, as well as governance and management in the sector.

The projects were launched to support key players and populations, provide equipment, supply resources to staff, and also recruit and train teachers.

The most recent is the construction of 30,000 classrooms all over the country. It is set to be completed in 2025.

“What matters is thinking about the state of education in 2030, 2040, and 2050, set some order in what is being taught and the ambitions of public authorities for future generations,” said the minister of education, Dodzi Kokoroko, last month. 

While “improving the education system remains at the heart of the political agenda,” the government plans to focus on “governance, digitalization, and pedagogy” next.

According to the latest data available, the schooling rate in Togo currently exceeds 94%, while completion rates in primary and secondary schools stand at 89% and 51%, respectively.

Octave Bruce

Last year, the Togolese state, its partners, and the private sector mobilized about CFA18.8 billion for the Ministry of Grassroots Development. The figure was recently disclosed by Myriam Dossou-D’almeida, who heads this ministry, during its last annual performance review. 

Compared to 2020, the funds were down by 24.81%, mainly because a number of projects and programs were halted or completed, according to the ministry. 

Still, this money was used to finance several projects, such as a school canteen program, a cash transfer scheme for the poor, road and track maintenance works. A part was also used to bolster grassroots development communities (CDB). Overall, these initiatives revolved around “improving populations’ access to basic social services, and boosting youth employment and growth”. 

Focusing on the 2020–2025 Togo Roadmap

In detail, a billion CFA was sent in the form of cash transfers to more than 60,000 households across the country, around 95,000 pupils received 14 million hot meals under the school canteen project, and 26,223 jobs were created for the youth, among others.

Aligning with the government’s “Togo 2025” roadmap

While lauding these achievements, the Ministry of Grassroots Development wants to do more, in line with the government’s 2020–2025 roadmap. It is especially determined to boost the capacities of communities at the grassroots level and promote municipal development strategies. 

It also plans to expand its school canteen project, set up 164 socio-community and economic infrastructure, extend its cash transfer scheme to 125,000 more households, install 28 multipurpose platforms (PTFM), support structured cooperatives, etc.

As in recent years, Togo will rely heavily on the regional financial market to fund a large part of its 2022 budget. The country will mainly rely on long-dated bonds, based on a successful issue of a 15-year bond at the end of 2021.

While the amount set in Finance Act for the issues it plans to carry out on the regional money market in 2022 stands at CFA533 billion, the Togolese treasury will attempt to seek more. Scheduled dates for the bond issues were unveiled last week at the 4th edition of the Public Securities Market Meetings, organized by the UMOA-securities Agency.

Five hundred and fifty billion CFA. That’s the actual amount the treasury hopes to secure from regional investors throughout the year. While significant, the figure, which was revealed by Kname Bouaré, Head of the Forecasting Division at the General Directorate of the Treasury and Public Accounts, is lower than the CFA570 billion Lomé raised on the same market last year.

Last month alone, the country, let’s recall, closed two successful rounds on this market, in a context where its target for Q1 2022 is CFA180 billion.

Out of the CFA550 billion targeted, Togo intends to secure CFA450 billion or 81% of the total by issuing fungible treasury bonds. Half of this amount should come from 7, 10, and 15-year bonds. This is in line with the country’s debt strategy which aims to reduce its financing risk related to its domestic debt, by favoring long maturities.”

“With UMOA-securities, this year, we are going to carry out one, or more, large operations to absorb the amounts to be mobilized […] a systematic replenishment of securities to reduce the fragmentation of securities issued to constitute deposits of CFA70 to 80 billion,” Bouaré said. 

For 2022, Togo’s financing needs amount to CFA697 billion and over 70% of this sum—CFA533 billion—is expected to come from the regional financial market. At the moment, the country is negotiating with IMF for the remainder, and if they strike an agreement, Togo could issue a Eurobond to achieve its goal.

Fiacre E. Kakpo