Togo First
Togo: Dry port of Adétikopé now operational
Operations at the dry port of the Adetikopé industrial platform (PIA) began on January 16, 2022. According to the maritime economy ministry which revealed the news, the port which spans 20 ha can host 12,500 containers and serve as a relay-point for containers, pending their delivery to landlocked countries.
The infrastructure should help free space at Lomé’s main port. It will be used for the handling and transshipment of goods that are coming from or being sent to landlocked nations in the region.
"The dry port of Adétikopé is OPERATIONAL today! CMA CGM will deliver its unloaded containers on-site pending their transfer to hinterland countries. Togo is on the way to becoming a leading logistics hub in the sub-region," said the ministry.
By commissioning the new platform, Togo aims to strengthen its position, in line with its goal of becoming a first-class logistics hub at the regional level.
Togo to seek CFA35 billion on the UMOA-securities market next Friday
Togo will carry out its second issue on the UMAO-securities market on January 21, 2021. The country will seek CFA35 billion by issuing fungible treasury bonds. With a nominal value of CFA10,000 per unit and an interest rate of 5.8%, the bonds will mature over 84 months (7 years).
The upcoming issue follows that carried out on January 7th. The first issue of 2022 helped Lomé raise CFA27.5 billion. It has a maturity of 182 days or 6 months.
Throughout 2021, Togo raised CFA557 billion on the UMAO-securities market, against CFA623 billion in 2020.
Esaïe Edoh
UMOA-Securities: Togo to reimburse CFA9 billion to regional investors this month
Togo plans to repay, this month, CFA29 billion to clear part of its debt on the UMOA-securities market. The information was disclosed in the cumulative balance sheet of this market.
The payment breaks down into CFA22 billion as principal and CFA6.99 billion as interest.
It should be noted that throughout 2021 the country reimbursed nearly 60% of the funds it borrowed on the regional money market that year. The exact amount is 334 billion out of 557 billion raised. The repaid amount included 72 billion of interest.
About a week ago, Togo carried out its first issue on the UMOA-securities market and retained CFA27.5 billion (while seeking CFA25 billion) out of CFA77 billion raised.
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Togo’s tax earnings surged 70% since 2014
Between 2014 and 2021, taxes collected by the Togolese tax office (OTR) surged by 70% - from 458.2 billion to 780 billion CFA, respectively. This represents an average increase of 6.87% per annum.
Overall, though there was an increase in 2017 and 2018, the OTR performed less. The institution collected CFA563.2 billion in 2017 (around 5 billion less than it did in 2016) and 560.5 billion the following year. The reason for the drop was political and social unrest.
There was however a rebound amid the Covid-19 pandemic with 780 billion mobilized last year, compared to 655 billion in 2020.
Overall, the year 2021 was “exceptional regarding the mobilization of tax and customs revenues,” according to Philippe Kokou Tchodie, commissioner-general of the OTR. The country, he added, recorded a good performance amidst a health and economic crisis, challenges facing businesses, especially MSMEs and public companies - a prowess owed to several efforts made by the government. However, there was a hike in the prices of consumption goods near the end of 2021.
Regarding expectations for this year, the government hopes to collect CFA814 billion to finance its budget.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
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Financial inclusion must be a priority for Africa in 2022, Mazamesso Assih says
This year, Africa must make financial inclusion a priority. Mazamesso Assih, Togo’s minister for financial inclusion and the informal sector, claimed in a recent statement.
According to the official, there are three main reasons African nations must focus on financial inclusion. First, making financial services more accessible fosters the empowerment of the most vulnerable people, women especially. “Women,” Assih said, “are disproportionately affected by financial exclusion.” “Including them requires specific measures and greatly benefits society,” she added.
The second thing financial inclusion can help tackle are criminal networks. "Moving from an exclusively monetary economy to a digital financial infrastructure makes it easier for authorities to trace transactions and deal with smugglers and traffickers, most of whom thrive by exploiting the monetary economy," the Togolese minister stressed.
Lastly, financial inclusion will boost private and public sector connectivity for sustainable growth. In this regard, Mazamesso Assih urged African governments to "support African fintech entrepreneurs whose start-ups can transform the economy and society, especially if they have the right channels to collaborate with telecom giants and big banks."
In her statement, the minister pointed the example of Togo, saying it took various steps to improve inclusion nationwide. These include microcredit programs, digital banking, entrepreneurship incentives, and financial education.
Esaïe Edoh
Fish output was up 18% at Lomé’s artisanal port in 2021, y/y
The Artisanal fishing port of Lomé (POPEL) caught over 4,000 tons of fish in 2021, up around 18% from 3,450 t in 2020. The figure was recently disclosed by the Ministry of Maritime Economy and Fisheries.
"The growth can be explained by the attractiveness of the new port, inaugurated in 2019, which offers a modern framework to the actors of the fishery," said the Minister in charge, Edem Kokou Tengue.
In detail, the port recorded its biggest catches in July (511 tons), November (465), and June (430), while March and February recorded the lowest numbers, 166 and 191 tons respectively.
The POPEL was built two years ago, in Gbetsogbe-Baguida, an industrial zone. The infrastructure which was established to boost fishing in the country can host up to 300 pirogues and employ 8,000 people including fishermen, processors, and fishmongers.
In Togo, over 20,000 people work in the fishing industry and the latter contributes nearly 4.5% of GDP, according to the latest data available.
Togo: Almost 14,000 new businesses were formally set up in 2021, up 9% y/y
Over the past year, 13,770 new businesses were established. The figure, a new record, is up 9% compared to 12,500 businesses created in 2020, according to data from the Centre de formalités des Entreprises or CFE (Center for Business Formalities) compiled by Togo First.
In detail, in Q1 2021, 4,087 companies were created against 3,224 in Q2, 3,495 in Q3, and 2,964 in Q4. January was the month where the most businesses were created – 1,390 – and December was the month to record the least registrations: 817
Also, out of the 13,770 that were registered at the CFE in 2021, 11,629 are owned by Togolese. This is 16% more than the number recorded the year before, knowingly 9,701. While Togolese-owned businesses rose, foreigners opened fewer businesses in the country last year. From 2,831 in 2020, the number of businesses created by them slumped by about 24% to stand at 2,141 in 2021.
Another remarkable fact is that more women officially started businesses last year than in 2020. Indeed, the CFE data indicates that in 2021, women created 3,793 rbusinesses, against 3,426 the year before (+10%).
However, it appears that men registered far more businesses than women in the last 12 months, exactly 9,977 or 72% of the total recorded.
In addition, the number of businesses registered by natural persons stood at 8,327, against 5,443 for legal entities.
The positive performance recorded amid the Covid-induced economic and health crisis is attributable to several reforms introduced by the government to improve the business climate. Such reforms include notably reducing the time and cost needed to set up a business as well as digitization of formalities.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Covid-19 pushed up the number of new e-money accounts by 20.85% in 2020, y/y
More than 5.7 million new e-money accounts were created in Togo in 2020, up 20.85% compared to 4.71 million accounts in 2019. This was recently disclosed by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in its annual report on digital financial services in the WAEMU.
Over the same period, users of digital financial services, which allow the storage and transfer of funds through digital tools, carried out 144.47 million transactions, amounting to around CFA1,500 billion (exactly CFA1,488.69 billion). Compared to 2019, these figures were respectively up by 55.42% and 63.47%.
Regarding the number of service outlets, it rose from 17,214 (in 2019) to 31,173 at the end of December 2020, up 81.09%, according to the BCEAO. The upward trend was observed in other WAEMU countries. In all of them, the number of newly-opened accounts was up (except in Côte d’Ivoire), data from the Central Bank shows.
Covid-19 and digitalization
The growth was recorded amidst the persistent Covid crisis, with several health restrictions implemented. According to the BCEAO, some of these measures are responsible for accelerated digitization and the adoption of digital financial services (especially Mobile money) both in Togo and the WAEMU region.
"The year 2020 was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic which impacted several sectors of economic activity," the report notes. In the period, which was characterized by travel restrictions and physical distancing," authorities were prompted to adopt, "during the second quarter of the year under review, a battery of measures – in collaboration with actors of the payment ecosystem – aimed at fostering the use of digital payment modes," the BCEAO added.
These measures, the document highlights, led to "a significant evolution" of digital financial services in 2020 "relative to their supply, access, distribution, and use, both at the national and regional levels.”
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: road accidents claimed more than 600 lives in 2021
In Togo, more than 600 people died in road accidents in 2021, up from 556 in 2020. The figure was recently reported by the Minister of Security and Civil Protection Gal Yark Damehane.
According to the official, the causes of these accidents were the same as in previous years: recklessness, drunk driving, non-respect of the highway code, overloading, speeding.
These causes persist "despite the government’s awareness campaign and efforts," Damehane lamented while announcing new safety measures for this year. The latter include urging both bike passengers and drivers to wear helmets. He also said existing measures would be intensified, the category A driving license would be reintroduced, and awareness and repressive actions would be sustained.
Toward the same goal, improving road safety, Affoh Atcha-Dedji, the Minister of transport, launched in December 2021 the pilot phase of the Road Safety Strengthening Project (PPRSR). Expiring in 2025, this project aims to improve road safety through the organization of driving tests throughout the country for more than 7,000 drivers of two- and three-wheeled vehicles and awareness-raising campaigns on the highway code and the dangers associated with certain behaviors in traffic.
Esaïe Edoh
Afreximbank to support Togo’s industrialization
In addition to backing the second construction phase of the PIA, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) said last Thursday it would help Togo develop its industrialization projects. The commitment came from Benedict Okey Oramah, chairman of Afreximbank’s board of directors, during a meeting with the Togolese Head of State, Faure Gnassingbé.
"We are planning other projects, especially the development of integrated industrial parks...,” announced Benedict Okey Oramah.
The announcement follows Togo's adhesion to the Agreement establishing the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), last August. The FEDA is an Afreximbank platform that allows its members to foster the development of industrial infrastructure.
Moreover, Afreximbank added that it is ready to help Togo implement social projects. "We have also discussed with the President of the Republic of our bank’s contribution to the realization of the government's roadmap so that at least 75% of the Togolese population gets access to electricity and drinking water in the coming years. We have also agreed to collaborate in the health sector," Oramah said.
So far, the executive added, Afreximbank’s ongoing projects in Togo are valued at 500 million euros.
Esaïe Edoh