From 209,000 in 2012, the number of beneficiaries of the health care services of the National Health Insurance Institute (INAM) has increased to 426,000 in 2021.

Over the period, services provided by the INAM almost tripled. Data from the institution shows that the number of consultations jumped to 405,000 from 137,000, while analyses stood at 482,000 on average per year.

Over the past nine years, the Institute has also strengthened its presence in the country, setting up six regional delegations, and 16 liaison offices in hospitals that receive many patients. Through these actions, the INAM aimed to raise awareness and advise people on the different contexts adapted to benefit from its services. 

In its report, the institution, headed by Myriam Dossou-d'Alméida, indicates that it has signed agreements with public and private healthcare centers, analysis laboratories, medical imaging centers and pharmacies, to meet the expectations of the insured. By the end of 2021, the number of these contracted providers was approximately 1,500, compared to 953 when it began operations. 

It should also be noted that, with the number of its beneficiaries swelling over the past decade, the INAM has overhauled its management tools. The number of benefit books, their volume and format have been reduced. An IT system was also put in place, followed a few years later by the dematerialization process, which allowed the health insurance management body to be distinguished by the International Social Security Association (ISSA).

Initially open only to public administration and parapublic employees, the health insurance scheme now covers several professions: senior citizens, volunteers, craftsmen, journalists, students and architects. At the same time, steps are being taken by the private sector to register its members. In the meantime, nearly 2,000 people have been registered. 

It should be noted that while INAM is working to improve the quality of its services, it has been trusted with managing the Universal Health Insurance (UHI), a project falling under the government’s 2025 new roadmap.

Esaïe Edoh

In Togo, the government and education stakeholders signed a memorandum of understanding this past weekend. The document will, hopefully, put an end to "the long years" of arm wrestling between the government and teachers who have been demanding better living and working conditions. 

Essentially, the signing of this document shows the unanimity of the two parties on the 5 billion CFA francs provided by the government as an exceptional bonus for teachers over five years, or by 2025. They also agreed on a social truce for the same period, in which dialogue and consultation will be favored. 

This agreement, the result of a long process of discussions, according to the signatories, is the culmination of the progress made in satisfying the demands and grievances of teachers as well as the reforms carried out in the education system. 

According to the Minister of Public Service and Social Dialogue, Gilbert Bawara, it also demonstrates the ability of education sector actors to prioritize the interests of learners over their own.  “All of us have demonstrated once again that when the general interest and a common cause require it, we can show surpassing and abnegation, and have an attitude and a spirit of responsibility,” he said.

Esaïe Edoh 

The second edition of the International Market of Crafts of Togo (MIATO) should start on March 23 and end on April 3. This edition should welcome more than 300 exhibitors, twice the number that attended the first edition. 

The forecast was disclosed by the minister delegate in charge of technical education and handicrafts, during the council of ministers held last Monday, March 7. 

The theme of the upcoming fair is “Crafts and competitiveness”. It aims to encourage more craftsmen to formalize and innovate, to make Togo more competitive in this industry, both regionally and internationally. 

The first edition of the MIATO was held in 2019, between Oct. 25 and Nov 3. It brought together over 160 exhibitors and more than 150,000 visitors from a dozen countries. The event, which is supposed to be held twice every year, was postponed several times due to Covid-19.

After having worked two weeks ago on the conditions to which the right to strike is subjected, and the creation of a National Labor Council (CNT), the Council of Ministers that met last Monday has defined conditions governing remote and temporary work in Togo.

In this framework, two decrees were adopted–the first on the conditions and modalities related to remote work.

“Taking into account technological developments, international circumstances of all kinds, and in the application of the new labor code, this decree determines the principles, conditions, and procedures governing telework or remote work,” read the Council’s statement.

The text, adopted by the government, “provides a framework for adjusting ways of working when necessary, and technology allows it,” the document further indicates.

The second draft decree adopted sets the conditions related to temporary work. “This decree, taken per the provisions of the new labor code, is intended to set the conditions for the implementation of temporary work,” knowing that the contract of temporary work is a contract that binds a worker to a temporary business or work or a contract for workers’ supply.

This second bill, according to Lomé, is an update “which takes into account the emergence and development of companies and temporary businesses,” ensuring employees’, especially companies and temporary companies, “adequate legal protection.”

Last month, 1,278 businesses were freshly registered at the Center for Business Formalities (CFE) in Togo. This is 1.7% less than the 1,300 registered the previous month.

Thus, in January and February 2022, a total of 2,578 new businesses were set up in the country, down 7.2% compared to the 2,765 businesses registered over the first two months of 2021, with respectively 1,390 in January and 1,375 and February (-1%).

In further detail, in January-February 2022, 1,085 of the newly-created businesses were registered by Togolese citizens against 193 by foreigners. We also note that 904 businesses were registered by men and 374 by women.

Over the past decade, the National Agency for Volunteerism in Togo (ANVT) has mobilized more than 25,000 women volunteers, about half of all volunteers enrolled over the period. “Since 2011, the ANVT has mobilized, for all its forms of volunteerism, 25,406 women (52%) of the total number of national volunteers mobilized. This day, which celebrates the rights of women, is the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to them,” the agency wrote in a publication released on March 8th.

Many eminent public figures also intervened on the same day. This includes President Faure Gnassingbé who urged concerned actors to “commit to building an egalitarian society.”

The ANVT (Ex Provonat), was established in 2011 under the supervision of the Ministry of Grassroots Development, Handicrafts, Youth and Youth Employment. Its mission is to promote and enhance the voluntary commitment to the development of the country.

Rehabilitation works at the Niamtougou International Airport will begin soon, thanks to an investment of 2.2 billion CFA francs. The Director-General of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), Colonel Gnama Latta, disclosed the news on March 7, 2022.

In detail, these works will involve the airport’s runway from 2,500 m to 3,000 m, fencing the perimeter, and securing the terminal.

According to ANAC’s head, the works will help accelerate the project to open a State-owned airline that will service Niamtougou from Lomé. 

They will also enable Togo’s second airport to meet international standards and serve as a base for exporting various cash crops like mango and tomato, grown in the area where it is located. There is also the tourism aspect, which the infrastructure should help boost. 

Launched in 2010, the rehabilitation of Niamtougou’s airport aims to make “the platform a reference for airport logistics, especially for cargo traffic to hinterland countries.”

Esaïe Edoh