Last Friday, Togo closed its fifth bond issue, with a 7-year maturity, on the regional money market. The operation, a treasury recovery bond issue, enabled the country to raise CFA27.5 billion. This new success reflects investors’ sustained trust in Togo since the end of the sociopolitical crisis it experienced in 2017.  

For the fourth issue, which closed on May 21, average weighted yield was 5.95%. For the issue before that, it was 6.09% on April 16 and 5.90%, for last week’s.  

Over the past two months, Togo gained 19 base points.  In comparison, Mali, the last country to issue a bond with the same maturity, recorded a yield of 6.02%.

The Togolese economy is expected to recover rapidly, after it was hard hit by Covid-19. The pandemic indeed halted growth which was being driven by the 2018-2022 national development plan. 

As the pandemic keeps receding globally and recovery continues, Togo should record a growth of 4.3% in 2021 and 5.6% next year, the AfDB, a pan-African bank forecast. The increase should be driven by agriculture, greater investment in the transport, energy, and industry sectors.

Olam International, the majority stakeholder in the New Cotton Company of Togo (NSCT), plans to invest CFA4.6bn in the 2021-2022 cotton campaign. It eyes an output of 135,000 t for the season. 

Part of the funds will be spent on industrial infrastructure, tech equipment, management software, including the NSCT’s integrated management software package SAP which will serve to manage farmers’ environment. CFA2.5bn will be used to renovate factories and buy spare parts. 

In parallel, the NSCT will have to pre-finance the new cotton season, injecting CFA9 billion in the purchase of inputs (for the whole cultivated area - 180,000 ha), and make advance payments for major producers. The funds will be recovered at the end of the campaign, the company said.  

For the new campaign, the NSCT decided to use a weather alert system, to avoid rain issues encountered the previous season. 

In addition, “the group intends to improve its database in areas where the NSCT operates, to better know farmers and their needs,” said Martin Drevron, deputy managing director in charge of operations at the NSCT. 

The production target, 135,000 t, according to the NSCT’s board chairman, M. Simfeitcheou, “aligns with the government’s ambition to leverage cotton as a tool to develop grassroots communities.” This, he added, is clearly “reflected through the installation of the Adetikope Industrial Platform (PIA) where local cotton is to be processed.”

In the last season, 2020-2021, Togo’s cotton output fell by nearly 43%, from 117,000 t to 66,000 t. 

On June 15, the Adetikope Industrial Platform (PIA) and the Togolese Institute for Agricultural Research (ITRA) signed a contract under which the latter is to provide the former 60 t of soybean seeds for the 2021-2022 season. 

The TGX1910-14F seeds will feed the soybean value chain which Togo Agro Resources SAU, a firm settled at the PIA, entered. The agribusiness company will intervene in the processing segment, making edible soybean oil.  

Established in 1997, the ITRA’s mission is to, in collaboration with agricultural actors, conduct research aimed at advancing agriculture in Togo, notably in the crop, animal, fishery and forestry sectors. 

Klétus Situ

A development and urbanization masterplan will be adopted by six local municipalities. The project, led by the government, will be partly financed by the PIDU, an urban development and infrastructure project with an estimated value of $30 million. 

The six municipalities concerned are Zio 1 (in the maritime region), Ogou 1 and Kloto 1 (Plateaux), Tône 1 (Savanes), Kozah 1 (Kara), and Tchaoudjo 1 (Central region). 

The masterplan is a document to regulate and manage urban space, and organize transportation and movement of vehicles. It will enable covered municipalities to make projections, over 20 years, regarding major strategic projects aligning with the ongoing urbanization dynamics. 

In line with the project, the ministry of urbanism, housing, and land reform, launched a call for expression of interest to recruit a consultant to assess the readiness of each of the six municipalities aforementioned. 

It should be recalled that the PIDU’s main objective is to improve access to urban infrastructure and basic services in cities, as well boost the latter’s institutional capacity relative to urban planning and management.

Togo’s trade deficit (including services) widened further last year. From CFA349 billion in 2019, it deepened by 31% to CFA460 billion, according to recent data released by the BCEAO.  

This is mostly due to the Covid-19 which almost froze the global economy, and Togo’s especially, as governments shut their borders and implemented various restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. 

Despite the crisis, goods imports into Togo over the past year improved slightly compared to 2019. Indeed, the country’s imports were estimated at CFA1,080 billion in 2020, down by 1.7% compared to 2019 where they stood at CFA1,061 billion. 

Meanwhile, exports generated CFA580 billion in 2020, against CFA618 billion (-12%) the year before. 

Service balance also contracted, by 58%, from CFA94.5 billion to CFA39.5 billion, over the period reviewed.

Togolese beekeepers and honey sellers are now allowed to export their produce to the European Union (EU), a market of 450 million consumers. This was recently disclosed by Joaquin Tasso Vilallonga, head of the EU delegation in Togo. 

“We hope that this approval will facilitate the development of the honey sector and exports from Togo to the EU,” Vilallonga said.

According to the diplomat, the good news is the result of a long process started in 2019, on the sidelines of the first EU-Togo economic forum held in Lomé. Indeed, just after that forum, the EU delegation had financed the elaboration of a National Plan to Monitor Residues in the Honey sector (PNSR). The latter aimed at certifying the quality of Togolese honey for export to the EU. 

According to recent figures, in 2019, Togo produced 59,833 L of honey, up by 58.6% from 37,727 L in 2018.

Yesterday, June 14, Togo’s PM, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, and Gerd Müller, Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development, laid the first stone for an industrial profession academy. The latter, built over a hectare, is located at the Adetikope Industrial Platform (PIA). 

According to the PM’s office, the academy will offer 8 training courses across three sectors, namely agribusiness, industry, and construction. The professional school could train as many as 300 students per year. Financed under a public-private partnership, the project costs €10 million (CFA6.55 billion). 

“Our goal is to enable Togolese youth to fully play its role in the new development strategy we are initiating through the PIA,” Dogbe said. 

For his part, Müller, quite optimistic about the country’s industrial strategy, declared: “A sustainable industry must also provide jobs for the youth. This project should lead to the creation of 30,000 jobs. What we are doing here is creating added value in the country, and leveraging this added value locally, thereby building a real model for Africa.” 

The PIA, let’s recall, is the fruit of a public-private partnership between the Togolese State and Arise IIP. It was inaugurated on June 6, 2021, by President Faure Gnassingbé. 

Klétus Situ

Between 2018 and 2020, Togo imported CFA472 billion worth of petroleum products, data from the West African Development Bank (BCEAO) shows. 

The amount breaks down into CFA167 billion, CFA165 billion, and CFA140 billion in 2018, 2019, and 2020 respectively. The significant slump in the last year, 15%, is attributable to the pandemic which caused oil prices to plunge drastically.

Imports of oil and its derivatives represented about 15% of all goods Togo imported over the three years reviewed. In terms of volume, while that imported in 2020 is yet to be known, the country bought 758,219 tons of petroleum products in 2019, almost the same as it did in 2018 (758,218 tons).  

The government, let’s recall, recently increased pump prices, following a recommendation of the Comité de Suivi des Fluctuations des Prix des Produits Pétroliers (CSFPPP), a committee that monitors fluctuations in prices of petroleum products. 

Klétus Situ