Togo First
Togo Approves Creation of the African Medicine Agency
Togo will sign the African Medicine Agency (AMA) treaty. The country’s council of ministers recently examined and passed the draft bill that approves the treaty’s ratification.
Through this approval, Lomé wants to “consolidate its efforts relative to the fight against fake and low-quality drugs.” This is the goal of “the Lomé initiative” launched on January 18, 2020, by President Faure Gnassingbe.
According to the government, ratifying the AMA treaty will also allow the country to reinforce its universal healthcare strategy. In this regard, last week, the ministers’ council examined and passed a draft bill establishing the Universal Health Insurance (AMU).
African States adopted the AMA treaty on February 11, 2019, in Addis Ababa. The treaty aims to facilitate a coordinated response by signatories amid health crises, monitor and mitigate the risk of shortage of drugs and other crucial products like vaccines.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo to soon have a single desk for collecting non-tax revenues in the maritime sector
During its latest council of ministers, held on Sept. 15, the Togolese government discussed the creation of a single desk to collect non-tax revenues from the maritime sector.
The ministers examined the project, and discussed the platform's attributes and how it will operate.
The single desk should allow businesses operating in the maritime sector to complete, in a single place, all non-tax procedures and declarations, thus lowering related costs and delays.
Creating the desk will allow the State to keep track of all non-tax earnings in this sector, and optimize their collection.
Togo has the largest container port in West Africa and is MSC’s regional hub. Yet, it wants to consolidate its leadership in transhipping and as a preferential corridor. In 2020, the country introduced several reforms that led to setting up a minister of maritime affairs. It is headed by Edem Tengue, former boss of Maersk Togo.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Industrialization: A congolese delegation in Togo to learn all about the PIA
“Congo wants to emulate the high quality of work done at the Industrial Platform of Adetikopé (PIA), with its modern technologies, to set up its own Special Economic Zones. The world’s future is in Africa, so we must focus on locally processing our products.”
This was declared by Emile Ouosso, Congolese minister of special economic zones, last Monday as he met, in Lomé, with the Togolese ministers of trade, and investment promotion, Kodjo Adedze, and Kayi Midevor.
Togolese authorities present at the meeting presented to the Congolese delegation led by Ouossou the various reforms Togo introduced in recent years. After this, they visited the PIA.
The PIA, let’s emphasize, is one of Togo’s flagship industrialization projects. It involves the installation of several processing units.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo Plans to Launch Electricity for All Project in 2022
Togo plans to launch its Electricity for All project (PEPT) next year. In this framework, the country’s minister of energy and mines, Mila Aziablé, was in Côte d’Ivoire on September 9 and 10 to meet with her Ivoirian counterpart, Thomas Camara. Aziablé’s goal was to learn more about Côte d’Ivoire’s experience in terms of electricity.
The Togolese on this occasion also discussed with many actors of the Ivoirian electricity sector. They talked about the level of progress of the PEPT in Côte d’Ivoire, commercial offers, costs of implementation, spending-return details, monitoring, and the power transportation and distribution system.
Mila Aziable went to the Ivoirian power utility’s IT center and the PEPT’s development site in Anono.
Togo, let’s recall, is committed to achieving universal electricity coverage by 2030. To this end, it has taken many steps; such as the CIZO off-grid project, expanding the grid, building mini-grids, solar plants (for example Blitta’s 50 MW plant), among others.
Esaïe Edoh
The Decade of African Roots and Diasporas: Dussey Urges Rapid Action-Taking
Togo’s minister of foreign affairs, Robert Dussey, chaired on Monday the second virtual meeting of the High Committee for the Decade of African roots and diasporas. On the occasion, he advocated for rapid implementation of the decision taken by the Heads of State and Government Conference regarding the 2021-2031 Agenda.
The Togolese diplomat argued that it was necessary to “meet, as fast as possible, the expectations of the African diasporas and increase their contribution to the development of countries, individually, as well as to the achievement of goals of the Africa Union’s 2063 Agenda.”
Following Dussey’s plea, participants present agreed on short and mid-term actions to take to make the process inclusive, by involving African diasporas: from the Americas, the Pacific, the Antilles, the Carribeans, and non-State actors. In the same framework, Morocco said it would support the initiative with $200,000.
The Decade of African roots and diasporas is a Togo-led initiative. Its goal is to make the African diaspora key actors of Africa’s development.
Covid-19: people aged 18 and above can get vaccinated now
Eighteen-year-old people can get vaccinated against Covid-19 from now on in Togo. The government announced in a statement released on Sept. 13.
The country, which received new Pfizer and Sinovac shots last week, is deploying the vaccines across the territory. “These shots are being distributed in all of the country’s regions and will be administered to those aged 18 and above,” Lomé wrote in the statement.
The authorities thus urged people concerned to “go to the nearest health center to get their first shot or their second for those who already got their first.”
Let’s recall that the government decided to vaccinate 60% of the population, to achieve herd immunity. To this end, anyone visiting an administrative building must show their proof of vaccination.
Esaïe Edoh
SDGs: What Togolese People Think about The Country’s Progress
Seventy-two percent of people living in Togo said they faced moderate or high poverty over the past year. This is one of the major conclusions of a survey that Afrobarometer conducted on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Under the study, 1,200 adults, all Togolese, were interviewed between December 2020 and January 2021. “The survey’s results present citizens’ opinions regarding 12 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, comparable to official progress-measuring indicators,” Afrobarometer said.
Mitigated access to basic social services
Concerning access to basic social services, 74% of those surveyed claimed they have access to a safe source of water, 32% said they have access to drinking water in their house or compound, and 31% said they lacked clean water in the last 12 months.
Regarding electricity, dispatched enumerators found that 71% of the households surveyed had electricity. However, only 56% of the surveyed reported they were connected to the grid. As for access to the GSM network, 83% of the surveyed are covered.
Afrobarometer’s experts also found that there are schools in 83% of the area surveyed, with 71% of the sample population claiming they attended secondary school - 56% female.
Regarding health, the coverage rate for the area surveyed is 43% and only 23% of those surveyed said they never lacked healthcare in the past year.
A retrospective comparison
Compared to 2014, last year’s figures are better, especially for indicators related to SDGs 1, 2, 3, and 7, respective to poverty reduction, zero hunger, health, clean and affordable electricity.
Between 2014 and now, the number of people who have access to the grid grew by 5%, while those having running water in their houses and compounds increased by 7% in number. Meanwhile, the percentage of women surveyed with at least a high school education soared by 10%, over the period reviewed.
Klétus Situ
The International Conference on Social Enterprises Will Effectively Begin on Sep. 16
Initially set to take place on Sept. 9-10, the fourth international conference on social enterprises and corporate social responsibility (CSR) will effectively be held, virtually, on Sept. 16 and 17 in Lomé. This was disclosed by a source close to the ministry of grassroots development.
Themed “Social Entrepreneurship: A lever to dynamize job creation in local ccoommunities, the event, the organizers said, will cover new forms of entrepreneurship in local communities and ways to create and sustain jobs. Over 2,000 participants are expected.
The forum should produce recommendations aimed at developing a mechanism that will support local communities and expand social entrepreneurship, the ministry of grassroots development said.
Participants expected include political decision-makers, development partners, experts, and actors of the social economy. The conference is organized by the ministry of grassroots development, the US embassy, and Ecobank ETI.
Esaïe Edoh
Women Leadership: Togo Ahead of France, Germany, and Sweden
In Togo, 70% of the people in positions of leadership are women. The West African country is, according to a survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO), ahead of countries like Russia (46%), Sweden (42%), the US (41%), France (36%), and Germany.
“To get to that position in the global ranking, Togo has, for many years, been promoting women leadership, by appointing them at top political positions,” the report reads.
For example, since September 2020, the Prime Minister is a woman: Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe. The National Assembly is also chaired by a woman, Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan, since July 2018.
There is also Sandra Ablamba Johnson who is Secretary General of the Presidency, or Awa Nana-Daboya, Mediator of the Republic, and many more.
Togo’s women’s empowerment policy recently led it to secure financing from the Elsie Initiative set up to increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women in UN peace operations.
Esaïe Edoh
Gov’t Adopts Draft Bill Establishing Universal Health Insurance in Togo
The council of ministers adopted, last Thursday, the draft bill establishing universal health insurance in Togo.
The project falls under the first axis of the 2020-2025 government roadmap. This is “a major innovation in terms of social protection in our country. It will allow all layers of the population to have access to quality healthcare, through a mechanism that mutualizes risks and solidarity in financing,” the government said. The bill paves the way for the implementation of the project.
In June, Prime Minister Victoire Dogbe announced the creation of a committee to coordinate the project.
Before that, in March, the World Bank backed the project with $70 million.
Klétus Situ