Togo First
Togo: World Bank backs government’s pro-development efforts with $100 mln financing
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) has recently allocated Togo $100 million (CFA59 billion) financing. Disclosed by the Bretton Woods institution last Thursday, the facility should help the country support its inclusive growth program and tax reforms.
In addition, the disbursement–the second in a series of programmatic development policy support operations– will help Togo improve financial sustainability and service delivery in its energy and water sectors.
Concretely, the funds will finance measures aimed at raising tax revenues, making investment spending more efficient, and better managing public debt as well boosting transparency. They will also foster the sustainable management of water resources and make them more accessible to the most vulnerable–notably, by backing measures relating to the financial viability of the public water service. In the energy sector, the funds will be used to improve the financial performance of the national power utility, Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET).
Explaining why it disbursed the money, the World Bank said it was encouraged by "significant progress in domestic resource mobilization" achieved in recent years by the Togolese government, in line with the 2025 Togo Roadmap.
In August 2021, the financial institution had approved a disbursement of $60 million, or just over CFAF 33 billion from the International Development Association (IDA) to support Togolese education, specifically the implementation of the "Basic Education Quality and Equity Improvement Project" in Togo.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Government to lower tax on motor vehicles amid price increase of petroleum products
The government should soon lower the Tax on Motor Vehicles (TVM) on vehicles used to transport people and goods. The information comes from the recent meeting organized by the ministers of communication, trade, and transport with the media, in the wake of the increase in the price of petroleum products at the pump.
"The TVM will be scaled downwards for the transport of people and goods during the week, to relieve transporters, traders, and transport actors," said Atcha Dedji Affoh, the Togolese Minister of Transport.
During the meeting, his counterpart in charge of trade, Kodjo Adedze, announced "a battery of support measures," aimed notably at tackling speculation.
Juvenile and infant mortality rates down in northern Togo, study finds
Between 2015 and 2020, the under-five mortality rate fell from 51% to 35% in northern Togo, according to Integrate Health (an international NGO), which conducted the study "Exploring Maternal and Child Health Services in Northern Togo" in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
Togo: 137 teachers on strike have been excluded by the government
One hundred and thirty-seven (137) teachers were excluded this Wednesday, March 30, 2022, from the framework of civil servants in education by the Minister of Public Service, Labor and Social Dialogue, Gilbert Bawara (photo), who signed a decree in this regard.
The excluded teachers are now available to the general administration, said the government member who, on his Twitter account, said that it is "mainly, agents who have repeatedly acted against the requirements of teachers, stubbornly creating and maintaining tensions and disturbances, in the education sector, which is crucial to national life.”
The teachers in question went on strike as instructed by the Togo Teachers' Union (SET), even though this group has no legal existence, according to the Togolese authorities. They noted that per the Labor Code and the provisions of the decree of February 23, 2022, on the representativeness of professional unions and the exercise of the right to strike in Togo, the notice initiated by the SET "is null and void.”
Regardless, the SET confronted the government, maintaining its March 24 and 25 strike, extended from March 29 to 31, 2022.
As a reminder, since February of this year, the provisions relating to the exercise of the right to strike in Togo have been updated and now require professional unions to be representative. Similarly, the Togolese authorities and the teachers' unions signed a memorandum of understanding on March 10 that obliges a truce on strike action for five years.
Esaïe Edoh
Lomé hosts 5th Air Navigation Service Provider roundtable
The fifth Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) meeting is taking place in Lomé and will end tomorrow. Started last Monday, the event is themed: "Resuming coordination and cooperation activities among ANSPs after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic."
The meeting is co-organized by Togo’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA). It was officially launched by Affoh Atcha-Dedji, Togolese minister of road, railways, and air transports, in the presence of Col. Latta Dokisime Gnama and Mohamed Moussa, who respectively head the ANAC and ASECNA.
More than 150 delegates and African aeronautics experts are participating, sharing their experience towards improving air safety and security in Africa, and assessing the level of implementation of recommendations made at the fourth ANSP meeting in 2019.
"We have gathered to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the provision of air navigation services. The works will also help identify challenges that Africa’s ANSPs have in common, and define key areas for cooperation," said Mohamed Moussa.
Col Dokisime Gnama Latta, for his part, explained that "Togo was picked to host this meeting because the Head of State was named by his peers as the MUTAA’s Champion. This allows for a good collaboration among the companies of these countries, and affordable prices."
“Seize the opportunities, do not be afraid to produce and process our local products,” PM Dogbé tells economic operators
Last Tuesday, Lomé hosted the first consultation meeting between the State and the private sector, in the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). On this occasion, Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé, Togo’s PM reassured the private sector actors present that her government would support their projects to conquer the African market.
Dogbé told them the government was working to bolster the public-private partnership, by deploying key projects, policies, and reforms, that will structurally transform the Togolese economy.
Ecobank reports 174% increase in pre-tax profit in 2021
Ecobank, the Lomé-based pan-African banking group, has announced a pre-tax profit of $478 million for 2021, an increase of $304 million, or 174%, compared to 2020. This is according to the financial results released by the group on Tuesday, March 29.
"The bank made significant progress in achieving its strategic priorities and delivered strong business and financial returns," said Ade Ayeyemi, Ecobank Group CEO, adding that 2021 was "a transformational year for Ecobank.”
As the world was recovering from Covid-19, the banking group present in 33 African countries, it appears, had a profitable year - the second marked by the pandemic. Its net income amounted to $1.8 billion, up 5% over the period. Ecobank’s efficiency ratio also rose to 58.9%, "the best in over a decade," Ayeyemi lauded.
However, there was a slight drop in the group's spending (partly due to a reduction in staff). They were down by $19 million, or 2% year-on-year, to $1 billion.
192 billion in profits in the UEMOA zone
In detail, Ecobank's Uemoa zone reported a pre-tax profit of $192 million for 2021 (CFAF 113 billion at current rates), up $41 million from 2020, 27% year-on-year.
Over the same period, net income in the region stood at $559 million, up $47 million, while spending was relatively unchanged year-on-year (at about $303 million).
The Ivorian subsidiary, a flagship of the Uemoa zone, for its part, crossed the FCFA 35 billion mark in pre-tax income in 2021, according to Agence Ecofin.
40 million in dividends for shareholders
In this context, Ecobank's board of directors last month recommended paying dividends to shareholders, which is also a first since 2016.
The group proposes to pay 0.16 cents USD ($0.0016) per ordinary share to shareholders, for a total dividend of about $40 million.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: several measures will be introduced to protect consumers against the impacts of rising prices of petroleum products
In response to the increase in fuel prices at the pump this Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the Togolese government will take a series of measures to sustain the purchasing power of Togolese citizens. This was revealed by Kodjo Adedze, Minister of trade and local consumption, during an inter-ministerial press briefing held on Tuesday also, in trio with Akodah Ayewouadan and Atcha-Dedji Affoh, respectively Ministers of Transport and Communication.
"There will be a whole battery of support measures that will follow," the Minister of Trade told journalists.
According to the authorities, these measures are already on the table and should be the subject of future communication.
Besides support mechanisms, the State should tackle speculation and try to cap certain prices. "While implementing new measures to act on prices, there will be other additional elements, in terms of control of commercial actors," said Kodjo Adedze.
Recently, the government announced it will disburse between 40 and 50 billion CFA francs in subsidies to support fuel prices throughout 2022.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Equiano: Togo needs €300M to deploy fiber on its power lines
Togo plans to fiberize all its power lines, now that it is connected to Google's Equiano submarine cable, which will be operational in the fourth quarter of this year.
“Our cost-effective strategy is to deploy fiber infrastructure on power lines. One of the costs of deploying fiber is digging the ground and burying the cable deep. Instead of doing that, we will deploy the cables on poles that host electric lines. Imagine when you tell a resident that you will give them high-speed internet with their electricity at affordable prices." Cina Lawson, Minister of the Digital Economy, told the business media Quartz in an interview.
To undertake its plan, Lomé needs at least €300 million, according to the minister who said: "We are talking with lenders to raise €300 million to put fiber on all electrical lines.”
CSquared Woezon at the helm
CSquared Woezon, a joint venture formed by CSquared (owned by Google, IFC, Convergent Partners, and Mitsui), on the one hand, and the Société d'Infrastructures Numériques (SIN), 100% owned by the State, on the other hand, will steer the project.
Established to manage Equiano’s landing station, CSquared Woezon will also be in charge of deploying optical fiber on domestic high-voltage power lines and those linking Togo to its neighboring countries, notably Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Benin.
According to the World Bank, the CEB (Communauté électrique du Bénin) has a 438 km transmission network equipped with dark fiber (inactivated optical fiber) in Togo, and more than 1,000 km with neighboring countries such as Benin and Ghana.
Lowering costs
The penetration rate of the internet in Togo is 23% and raising it is one of the government’s priorities–two-thirds of key projects falling under its roadmap include a digital component. The country, in line with the Togo Digital program, aims to become a digital hub by 2030, notably by supplying internet at lower costs but with higher quality. The program, Lomé hopes, will make the country more competitive than its neighbors. According to a study commissioned by Google as part of the Equiano project, Africa Practice and Genesis have estimated that with the new cable, retail Internet access prices should drop by 14%.
The private sector and the government are expected to both contribute to the last-mile phase of the project
“Togo has approximately 1.2 million households. If we deploy our plan, at least 500,000 households and 50,000 enterprises will be connected to fiber-optic networks. So I am talking about one vision that will transform all of Togo,” Lawson told Quartz.
To achieve this ambition, the minister counts on the active participation of the private sector, while emphasizing that the State must remain the master of the game.
For the last-mile phase of the project, "we want to de-risk the project as the government by contributing financing, to make sure price points are low. If it’s entirely led by the private sector, they will need a return on investment which may lead to high prices," said Cina Lawson.
In Togo, several agreements exist between mobile operators, ISPs, and utilities for the deployment of the Internet throughout the country. These include the agreement signed by TogoCom and GVA (Canalbox) with CEET, allowing these operators to use the electricity distribution company's towers to provide fiber to the home (FTTH).
E-gouv also becomes part of Csquared Woezon
The e-Gouv network, whose implementation was financed in large part by China, and which already connects 560 public buildings, including the University of Lomé, is now part of this joint venture owned by Mauritius (56% ), and the Togolese state through the SIN (44%).
Fiacre E. Kakpo
TICAD VIII: Sandra Johnson calls for the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to help African economies recover from Covid-19
Sandra Johnson, Togo’s Minister, Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic, pleaded on Sunday for the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to African states. This was during the ministerial meeting of the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8) held from March 26 to 27, where she represented Togo by video conference.
Participants mainly discussed the following two themes: "Achieving sustainable and inclusive growth with reduced economic inequality" and "Achieving a sustainable and resilient society based on human security / Building sustainable peace and stability by supporting Africa's efforts."
According to Johnson, reallocating SDRs will help African nations revive their economies which have been weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same vein, the Minister Secretary-General also suggested the cancellation of debts of countries.
"I would like to launch an urgent call to all our partners to strengthen beyond a possible suspension of debt, any initiative aimed at the cancellation of the debt of our States. Also, special attention should be paid to the issue of domestic debt with the possibility of supporting its convertibility into a sustainable debt with a longer maturity. This is also the place to solicit once again, the mobilization of partners through the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to support the recovery of African economies," said the official.
During the meeting, Sandra Johnson partially blamed the security and health crises, saying they caused Africa’s debt to rise, funding for countries on the continent to fall drastically, at a time when they need it most to finance their investments and tackle their issues effectively.
The Togolese minister recalled the various initiatives taken by the States to meet the challenges in the sectors of intra-African trade, agro-industry, energy, peace, and security. In this regard, she also mentioned the recent efforts made by Togo to improve its business environment.
The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) is a framework for exchanges and policy dialogues between African and Japanese leaders and their partners. It has been held every three years since 1993.
Esaïe Edoh