Togo First
Togolese delegation of businessmen in Germany for BIOFACH2023
The World’s leading Organic Food Fair (BIOFACH) goes on in Nuremberg, Germany. Started on February 13, the fair ends on Feb 17th, and a Togolese delegation of about 10 biologic MSMEs.
The delegation showcases tropical products produced in Togo, like pineapple, cashew, and fonio. They will also build new partnerships to increase their exports to new countries and consolidate existing deals.
"We came to this show for two main purposes. First, to see what others are doing in terms of packaging, and product presentations and then, leave with contracts. We want to approach potential customers to expand our market range," said Yorou Kesire, owner of Bodhi Foods.
BIOFACH takes place every year and gathers organic food actors who promote their products, focusing on recent trends and innovations in the sector.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: A five-year plan to develop the blue economy is in the pipeline
Several actors of the Togolese blue economy are holding a national workshop in Lomé. The goal of the workshop is to validate a development strategy for the sector. This strategy should cover afive yearsand cost CFA205.54 billion, according to recent information.
Improving blue economy governance, implementing reforms needed to draw the appropriate legal tools needed in the sector, and bolstering protection capacities are the strategy’s main goals. "We conducted a diagnosis, which led us to travel through all five economic regions of the country. In each region, we held meetings with stakeholders at the regional and local level, so that these actors can actively participate and can become impregnated with the theme that is the development of the blue economy," explained Lieutenant Colonel Bakatchimbe Tchannibi, water and forestry engineer, during the workshop.
The next step is to “assess how they contribute to this development, determine what can be done, at the local level, to ensure that the blue economy effectively becomes a sector that contributes to the country’s economic growth,” the official added.
In Togo, one of the major challenges that the blue economy faces is climate change as it affects all water-related resources.
According to the minister of maritime economy, Edem Kokou Tengue, 70% of Togo’s economic activities are sea-related. The country also derives more than 75% of its tax revenue from the sea.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi,
Togo to dedicate over a billion CFA to fishing and aquaculture in 2023
The Togolese State plans to allocate a budget of CFA1.1 billion to fishing and aquaculture this year. This is about half of the maritime economy ministry for 2023: CFA2.3 billion.
The funds will enable the Togo Aquaculture Project (PDAT) to continue. The latter is currently at the pilot stage and is being carried out at the Nangbeto Lake.
According to the ministry, the money will specifically serve to technically help fish farmers set floating cages, and organize workshops on aquaculture techniques.
Besides, fishermen, in particular those working at Lomé’s fishing port, will receive support to boost their output. "In line with the 2022-2025 roadmap, meeting fishery needs remains a priority. We are working to create the conditions to boost national production towards meeting local demand," said Edem Tengue, minister of the maritime economy..
Togo’s aquaculture output stood at 1,151 tons of fish in 2022, against 730 tons in 2020. However, last year 11,567 t of fish were caught through artisanal maritime fishing, 117 t through industrial fishing, and 6,300 t were caught in continental waters.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: the First batch of IFAD aquaculture academy graduates
The first batch of the Institut de formation en alternance pour le développement (IFAD-Aquaculture), the first aquaculture school of Togo, just graduated.
The graduation ceremony took place last Friday (Feb 10) and was presided over by President Gnassingbé. A total of 113 people graduated, including 27 females.
The program included three years of formal training followed by the creation of aquaculture farms. The graduates founded 19 cooperative businesses and 21 individual businesses on 26 different sites across the country.
During the ceremony, President Gnassingbé congratulated the trainers for their work and encouraged them to cultivate excellence. This, the leader added, will help build wealth and create jobs.
An initiative of the Presidency, the IFAD-Aquaculture is the first of 10 planned. It is located in Elevagnon, in the prefecture of East Mono. The academy currently has 120 learners.
Out of the 10 planned IFADs, three are already operational. They respectively offer aquaculture (Elavagnon), livestock (in Barkoissi), and construction (Lomé).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
UN System to inject CFA150 billion in Togo over the next three years
Togo and the UN System (UNS) just signed a new cooperation on sustainable development. The deal, which was signed on Feb 14 in Lomé, covers the 2023-2026 period.
Over that period, the UNS will invest $247 million (about CFA150 billion) in several projects and programs that fall under the government’s roadmap. These projects focus on three major goals. The first is to achieve inclusive growth, with decent jobs and a sustainable environment. The second is to develop human capital while ensuring more inclusive access to basic social services and social protection for all. And the last goal is to foster inclusive governance, with a focus on human rights, security, and cohesion.
The deal was signed by Sandra Johnson, the minister secretary general of the Togolese presidency, and Aliou Dia, Acting Coordinator of the UNS in Togo. After the signing, Johnson said: “This cooperation framework will contribute to the government’s ambitions and yield real changes for the good of the people, especially the most vulnerable.”
Dia for his part lauded the expansion of actions to more social layers of the population.
The UNS has been supporting Togo, financially and technically, in various areas, for many years now.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo to get €112M from the Global Fund in 2023-2025
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will allocate €112 million to Togo (CFA74 billion) for the period 2023-2025.
The minister of health is holding a national workshop focused on the allocation, and the session will define the various programs that will benefit from the funding. Also, during the workshop, participants will draw the country application that will be submitted to the Global Fund by May 29, 2023.
According to Dr. Akou Pignandji, the National Coordinator of the Permanent Secretariat of the Global Fund's Country Coordinating Mechanism in Togo, this workshop is an opportunity to discuss the strategic axes and mechanisms to be put in place to develop a quality strategic concept note. "I can assure you that since the Global Fund has been with Togo, there are currently 81,000 people on ARVs. That is to say that AIDS is no longer a problem as we thought at the time," he added.
Togo and the Fund have been fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, together, since 2002. Over the past 21 years, the partnership has helped provide bed nets to more than five million people, and this number is expected to increase this year, according to the top brass of this collaboration in Togo.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
ProDRA: Togolese rural agriculture bolstered by the 10-year-old program
Over the past decade, over 45,000 rural jobs have been created or improved as part of the Rural Development and Agriculture Development Program (ProDRA). The information came from GIZ, the German cooperation that steers the Togolese program.
The ProDRA, according to the source, also helped raise the income of more than 12,000 agricultural actors in Togo over the period (with an average income standing at CFA280,000). Youth and women represented 42% and 31% of this pool, respectively.
Relative to planning, the program induced the establishment of four national agricultural development strategies. Three of these strategies covered the following sectors: mango, organic cocoa, and organic pineapple. The last strategy is an industrial strategy to transform fruits and vegetables.
As part of the program, €400,000 (about CFA250 million) worth of seeds and equipment were supplied. In addition, 125,000 farmers were helped (group sales and purchases, internet bundles, product transport, compliance with good practices, etc.) to grow their offer and improve their organization, and consequently be more competitive. Last but least, 30,000 actors benefit from technical, financial, and organizational support.
Launched in 2013, the ProDRA is co-financed by the European Union (EU) and Germany. Throughout the 10 years during which it was deployed, the program drew from these two backers an investment of €21.2 million. Germany provided the bigger part: €16.5 million.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Government seeks CFA35 billion more to accelerate its Savanes Region Emergency Program (PURS)
In Togo, the government will seek CFA35 billion more to accelerate the deployment of the Savanes Region Emergency Program (PURS in French), a program aimed at making the people of this region more resilient to terrorist attacks. This was revealed last Thursday, during a meeting between the government and its technical and financial partners (TFPs) on the project.
The government counts mainly on the United Nations System, bilateral and multilateral partners, and development banks to get the money. According to Aliou Mamadou Dia, resident representative of the UNDP in Togo, these actors are still committed to the project. Dia added that so far, the TFPs’ commitment to the project amounts to CFA150 billion for the 2022-2025 period. This is against a budget of CFA200 billion.
During the meeting, the various parties talked mainly about expanding the PURS, very soon, in the Kara and Central regions, and the funds sought should contribute to this objective.
Earlier this year, the government revealed that CFA50 billion has already been injected into the project and helped expand rural networks by 15%-20% and extend access to drinking water to 80,000 people. The monies also allowed the provision of electricity to 15,000 more households.
The PURS was launched in 2022 in response to the attacks of terrorists which started hitting the Savanes region (in the North) in November 2021.
Esaïe Edoh
UEMOA-Securities: Togo secures CFA34 billion in the latest issue
For its third issue on the regional market–UEMOA securities–this year, Togo raised CFA34 billion. This is one billion less than its target for the operation, a simultaneous issue of fungible treasury bills and bonds.
Twenty-five (25) investors took part in the operation, according to a report released by the UEMOA securities agency. They mobilized a total of CFA56 billion, out of which Lomé retained CFA34 billion.
Regarding the amount retained, the report further indicates that 15 billion were raised from the fungible bills (which have a maturity period of 91 days), and 19 billion came from the bonds–10 billion from the bonds maturing over 3 years and 9 billion from those maturing over 5 years.
Including last week’s issue, Togo has raised CFA80 billion on the regional market so far, in 2023. This is out of an annual target of 574 billion.
Esaïe Edoh
Covid-19: the Togolese government is happy with the use of funds dedicated to the crisis response
In Togo, the funds allocated to the Covid-19 Response and Solidarity Fund (CRSF) were used appropriately. This is the conclusion of an audit report issued on February 1, 2023, by the Court of Auditors of Togo.
Commenting on the report’s results, the government in a press release dated 9 February 2023 said it “is pleased that this report revealed that spending related to barriers, response or health measures are conformed, regular and sincere.” The authorities added that funds mobilized through the CRSF were “utilized per the clauses of the grant and loan agreements on the one hand, and in compliance with the texts in force and those taken in the context of the health emergency on the other hand.”
Also, the government stressed that “the expenditures, which fall under the State budget, comply with existing laws, including those adopted during the health emergency.”
Though it noted some shortcomings in the report, the government congratulated the court of audit for doing a job that “attests of the good functioning of State institutions, in respect of the Constitution, as well the Togolese authorities’ desire for transparency.”
According to Lomé, the shortcomings unveiled by the audit “do not point to any fake expenditure or indicate that funds were embezzled or used illegally.”
Esaïe Edoh