Togo First
Banm Lab rolls out registration process for its second cohort of incubates
In Togo, the Banm Lab, a startup incubator based in Dapaong (650 km from Lomé), is opening the recruitment of young project holders for its second cohort of incubates.
"Registrations are open until April 3rd for the recruitment of the second cohort of young entrepreneurs wishing to master the contours of the creation and management of a business. Shortly, for this business creation support program, the focus will be on female applications," says the institution.
The Banm Lab is the second innovative incubator promoted by the Ministry of Grassroots Development, Youth and Youth Employment, after the Nunya Lab in Lomé. Operational since May 21, 2021, and located at the youth center of Dapaong, the Banm Lab was born with the support -technical and financial- of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Learn more on the BanmLab website, or by email.
President Gnassingbé recognized as Africa’s cybersecurity champion
Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé received this Wednesday in Lomé, at the opening of the summit on cybersecurity, the African champion of cybersecurity award.
"I am very humbled to receive this award because it is rare to receive an award before the start of the mission. I assure you of the achievement of the mission assigned to me," said the Togolese leader who added that this distinction reinforces the position of Togo in the fight against cybercrime. Moreover, it strengthens its determination to continue to fight for data protection, he said.
The Togolese Head of State also pledged to motivate African states to ratify the Malabo Convention (Equatorial Guinea) on cybersecurity and the fight against cybercrime in Africa adopted in June 2014.
Regarding the cybersecurity summit, it gathers more than 700 actors of the digital ecosystem.
Esaïe Edoh
More than 700 participants, including 17 African leaders said they will attend the upcoming cybersecurity summit in Lomé
Seventeen (17) African heads of state and government have confirmed that they will attend Africa’s first summit on cybersecurity that will open in Lomé on March 23, 2022. The summit’s organizers, in addition to disclosing this information, said more than 700 participants, including the private sector and civil society leaders, have registered to take part in this event.
At the Lomé summit scheduled for 2 days, participants will debate cybersecurity issues during presidential, ministerial, and expert panels. Talks and keynotes are also planned during this meeting which will be chaired by the Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbé.
Among others, a series of demonstrations of cyberattacks should take place, to raise awareness of the challenges of cybersecurity and introduce good digital practices.
The event will be sanctioned by a declaration to be adopted.
Togo: The import of electric and hybrid vehicles must now be approved by the government beforehand
Importing electric or hybrid vehicles or converted thermal vehicles must now be approved by the government, from the ministries of environment and trade to be specific. Disclosed by the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR), the measure aligns with new provisions taken by the government.
The Commissioner-General of the OTR announced in a recent official note that “for the completion of the formalities of customs clearance of the above-mentioned vehicles, as well as measures intended for their supply, customs authorities must obtain an approval issued by joint order of the Minister of Trade and the Minister of Environment.”
This update, which concerns economic operators in particular, is part of a decree issued last year (11 August 2021) by the Togolese government, as part of efforts to “develop the green economy.”
In the same vein, Lomé decided to maintain this year its tax policy that facilitates the importation of new electric motorcycles. These vehicles, under the 2022 finance bill, benefit from a new abatement of 100% on import duties.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
WTO to support Togo and seven other African countries in the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area
On March 10t, the World Trade Organization (WTO) launched a project to support eight African countries, including Togo, in the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Backed by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), the project will support the implementation of more than 30 activities related to the continental initiative in the selected countries; namely Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia. It should help create an environment where trade can be more efficient and inclusive.
“This program illustrates the spirit of partnership that is needed to support the implementation of the AfCFTA,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the launch. She wants to strengthen the capacity of beneficiaries to achieve tangible results, such as jobs and other economic opportunities.
The AfCFTA, let’s recall, aims to put in place a common framework and sets of standards across the African continent to ensure trade cooperation, harmonization, and efficiency of countries' trade relations.
Esaïe Edoh
Africa needs to integrate cybersecurity issues into its internet infrastructure development strategy, according to Orange Cyberdefense
In an interview with We Are Tech Africa, a media outlet specializing in Tech in Africa, Emmanuel Cheriet, General Manager of Orange Cyberdefense for the Maghreb and West Africa, stressed the need for the continent to integrate the cybersecurity by design approach into the development of connectivity networks.
Cyberdefense specialist Emmanuel Cheriet believes that States and companies in Africa must systematically and voluntarily integrate cybersecurity into the development of connectivity infrastructures, to tackle cyberattacks that are on the rise. Quoting data from Check Point Research, Cheriet noted that the rate of cyber threats on corporate networks increased by 50% per week in 2021, year on year.
The Orange executive, while acknowledging that the connectivity race in Africa is normal, deplores the fact that security concerns are ignored. “You have to start with connectivity, but security is not always integrated by default. And that's a shame,” he said.
“When you put in place multiple means of communication, it increases the attack surface of a company or a state,” he added. “If this implementation and development of digital services are not accompanied from the beginning (design phase) to integrate security in the process, then the risk of cybersecurity will not be sufficiently covered and attacks will increase. It should systematize the integrated approach of cybersecurity to the development of connectivity networks.”
Besides, analysts at Cybersecurity Ventures predict that “the costs incurred because of cybercrime will grow by 15% per year over the next five years.”
Let’s recall that cybersecurity will be at the heart of the first International Summit on Cybersecurity in Africa, scheduled to take place in the Togolese capital from March 23 to 24, 2022. The event, which is expected to be attended by more than 700 participants including heads of State and ministers, should allow, according to its organizers (the Togolese Republic and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa), to lay the foundations for cross-border cooperation to combat cybercrime.
Togo, a West African country that dreams of becoming a digital hub by 2025 as stated in its vision "Togo Digital 2025", has undertaken many digital infrastructure projects that align with this vision.
Such projects include the Lomé Data Center, the CERT (National Cybersecurity Incident Response Center), the National Cybersecurity Agency (ANCy), and Cyber Defense Africa (CDA), a joint venture between the Togolese Republic and Asseco Data Systems (ADS), a European IT company.
Séna Akoda
Lomé to host first cybersecurity summit in Africa this week
Africa’s first cybersecurity summit will be held in Lomé this week, on March 23 and 24. Announced months ago, the summit was postponed because of the pandemic.
Co-organized by the Togolese Republic and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the event will gather several African officials, and private actors operating in the IT security sector. They will discuss many topics, with cybersecurity and digital development experts. Among others, the Togolese Presidency said, participants, will explore innovative approaches to meet the challenges of cybersecurity on the continent, the challenges of cybersecurity in public policy, funding, and operationalization of cybersecurity strategies.
“Discussions will also focus on the challenges of cybersecurity at a time when biometric identification is emerging in Africa, and on the sideline of the implementation of a public-private partnership and synergies between the CERT (editor's note: Computer Emergency Response Team) and the SOC (editor's note: operational security center based in Lome), as well as the identification and implementation of key success factors to strengthen regional collaboration in cybersecurity,” the Presidency added.
Steered by the Togolese Ministry of Digital Economy and Technological Innovation, the upcoming summit also comes at a time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict is reviving interest in cybersecurity issues, with a spike in cyberattacks observed on the sidelines of military confrontations, according to several international sources.
The Togolese Cyber Defense
Togo's cybersecurity efforts include its National Cybersecurity Agency (ANCy), as well as a National Cybersecurity Incident Response Center (CERT) whose mission is to identify, analyze and mitigate cyber threats affecting the Togolese state, citizens, businesses, and organizations.
The country has entered into a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with Poland's Asseco, for ASSECO Data Systems, to set up Cyber Defense Africa. This is a joint venture that provides services to defend Togo’s cyberspace and helps government agencies and private companies in the sub-region make their infrastructure safer.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo’s food security agency, ANSAT, launches grain purchase campaign
Togo's National Food Security Agency (ANSAT) launched last weekend a grain purchase operation from producers in various localities. The purchase, we learn, will allow the agency to boost the existing food security stock and respond more effectively to populations’ needs.
For the first phase of the operation, the agency headed by Ouro-Koura Agadazi was in the Plateaux region where it bought 15t of white maize, 4t of sorghum, 10t of white rice, and 20t of unhulled paddy rice.
According to the authorities, this operation, which comes as the country records widespread inflation, is to help increase existing stocks of products, so that they can be made available to households at an affordable cost in the event of shortages.
This purchase operation not only boosts ANSAT’s stock but also constitutes financial support and investment to producers for the new agricultural campaign, said Napo Gnofam, in charge of product processing at ANSAT.
The operation will, according to ANSAT, continue throughout this week in other localities.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo completes 5th issue on UMOA-securities market, secures CFA30 billion
Last Friday, Togo completed its fifth issue on the Umoa-securities market this year: it raised CFA30 billion. For the operation, Lomé issued fungible treasury bonds with a nominal value of 10,000 FCFA, a maturity period of five years, and a fixed interest rate of 5.6% per annum.
According to the report released by the Umoa-securities agency, more than 100 billion FCFA were subscribed, i.e. a coverage rate of 346% of the amount auctioned. Mainly, Togolese, Beninese, and Burkinabe investors subscribed.
So far into the year, the country has mobilized CFA124 billion on the regional market. This is out of CFA550 billion it seeks to finance its budget for 2022.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo takes new steps to better protect its waters
On March 17, 2022, Togolese deputies unanimously passed two laws aimed at making the county’s maritime space safer and more protected. The laws, on the one hand, greenlit Togo’s adhesion to the International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, and on the other, the ratification of the 1988 Protocol regarding the 1966 International Convention on load-lines.
In detail, the first convention aims to establish rules for the location, marking, and removal of wrecks that hamper navigation. As for the ratification of the 1966 International Convention, to which the country already adhered in July 1989, it will effectively help integrate into Togo’s legal system technical provisions that match safety requirements for maritime navigation.
The two laws should help Togo better protect both human lives and material property in its maritime space, and protect the latter against certain forms of pollution. They should allow the country to be compensated when wrecks are found, removed, or marked in its waters.
Commenting on the matter, Edem Tengue, the Minister of Maritime Economy, said the laws “will greatly serve the development of the Togolese port industry, since the Autonomous Port of Lomé, given its geographical position in West Africa and its natural assets, is at the center of the application of all legal instruments governing the Togolese maritime domain”.
Esaïe Edoh