On June 9, the World Accreditation Day, Kodjo Adedze, the Togolese minister of trade, industry, and local consumption, called all business owners and lab heads to ensure that their products meet accredited standards. 

Accreditation, he said, is indispensable to conquer the international market, especially in the context of the management of the Covid-19 health crisis, the post-pandemic economic recovery, the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the promotion of local consumption. 

“Accreditation provides the technical and operational foundations that are essential to the functioning of our societies. It supports the development programs of states in areas such as cross-border trade, food safety, health, environmental protection, industrial and infrastructure development,” the minister said.

Truly, accreditation makes it easier for goods to move from one country to another. It is an attestation issued by accredited conformity assessment bodies, notably laboratories, certification, and inspection bodies. 

In Togo, accreditations are overseen and guaranteed by the High Authority for Quality and Environment (HAUQE) and institutions such as the Comité Togolais d’Agrément (COTAG), an entity in charge of handling certification and accreditation processes undertaken by businesses, public and private bodies present in the country. 

Let’s note that border controls and inspections at domestic sales points for the secure marking of products will begin on July 1 throughout Togo.

In Togo, 70% of economic activities are related to the coastline and the country gets more than 75% of its tax earnings from them. The figures were disclosed last Tuesday, World Oceans day, by the minister of maritime economy, fishery, and coast protection, Edem Tengue. 

According to Togolese authorities, trade via the port of Lomé generates a massive portion of the State’s revenues. In detail, says minister of transports Zouréatou Kassa Traoré, customs revenues garnered at the Port of Lomé make up 80% of all sea-related activities and 60% of the State’s earnings. In 2019, the volume of goods that passed through the port stood at 22.610 million tons, against 22.117 million tons the year before. 

For the fishery sector, it represents 4.5% of the GDP and employs more than 20,000 people. Each year, the country is estimated to produce 20,000 tons of fishes but reached a peak of 37,000 tons in 2018-2019 according to data from the Fishery and Aquaculture Directorate (DPA). 

Tengue says these numbers translate the importance of the ocean to the Togolese economy, and thus the need to protect it. “The ocean is an important asset for humanity and it deserves to be preserved. We must find the right balance between human activities and the preservation of the ocean,” he declared. 

Togo, to preserve the sea and regulate related activities, took many initiatives, such as establishing the High Council for the Sea (HCM). It also ratified multiple international agreements, to fight illegal actions at sea. Last May, a law to protect and valorize the Togolese coast was also adopted by the State.

Togo’s Tax Office (OTR) plans to launch a geolocalized tax census across the country’s five economic regions. The entity will deploy some of its agents to gather data from local communities. 

The project, in the long run, will help draw a tax map, regrouping the data gathered in a single database. 

The census should take six weeks in each region. In its framework, the OTR launched a public tender to recruit census takers. The call closes on June 25, 2021, and targets Togolese natives with an age limit of 35 years as of January 1. 

Let’s recall that the OTR on June 2 started a training on local taxing of local elects. The institution, which has been carrying out a decentralization campaign for the past year and a half, expects this year a tax revenue of CFA664 billion.

Between 2019 and 2020, loans given to non-residents by banks in Togo swelled by CFA317 billion, from CFA800 billion to CFA118.3 billion. The increase was disclosed in a BCEAO report, consulted by Togo First.  

Meanwhile, non-residents’ outstanding debt fell by 33% over the same period - from CFA318.6 billion to 213.2 billion. 

Let it be noted that in the Togolese banking system, external assets have almost doubled in one year - from CFA482 billion in 2019 to CFA905 billion on December 31, 2020, thus, up by more than 87%. 

Klétus Situ

In June last year, Togo said it completed the reprofiling of its internal debt, an operation started six months earlier. At the time, Moody’s, a rating agency, had declared that the debt reprofiling would cut the country’s debt service by around €130 million within the next three years. Now, a little more details explaining the reason for the success of the operation have filtered. 

The first phase of the reprofiling was materialized thanks to a loan of €103 million (CFA67 billion), from Tokyo-MUFG, Japan’s biggest bank. The loan is to be repaid over 10 years, with a two-year grace period, at an interest rate of 4.68% per year. 

Fully guaranteed by the Africa Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), the loan helped repay, by anticipation, an outstanding debt of CFA21 billion contracted by the BOAD, a regional lender, at a rate of 7.5% and a residual maturity of 3.5 years. The same loan was used to pay CFA44 billion of a syndicated loan, with the same residual maturity, contracted on the regional money market. The loan, which was to be reimbursed at an interest rate of 6.9% per year, was arranged by Sogebourse.  

The second phase of the reprofiling is the fruit of a financing arranged by Société Générale. Secured in June 2020, the facility - a loan of €147 million - is to be repaid over 10 years with a two-year grace period, at an interest rate of 4.54% per annum. Guaranteed again by ATI, the loan was used to repay, in advance, two loans totaling CFA18 billion, owed to the BOAD, and another owed to Ecobank. Regarding the latter, the country owed the bank CFA72.4 billion. 

In all, the reprofiling strategy allowed Togo to mitigate the refinancing risk by extending the average maturity of its portfolio from 5.1 years at the end of 2019, to 7 years in 2024.

The West African Development Bank (BOAD), with CFA50 million, wants to support environmental protection in Lomé. In this line, the regional lender launched a call for submission of projects by private entities, local authorities, and public actors. The call will close on July 30, 2021.

The project in question will improve systems in place to collect, sort, and recycle waste, as well as focus on boosting hygiene.

Through this financing, the BOAD mainly wants to create conditions that foster economic growth. It intends to do so by contributing to a healthy environment, and by increasing its actions relative to the environment and sanitation. 

In line with its commitment to preserving a healthy environment in its member States, the BOAD, in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union (EU), supported the construction of a Technical Landfill Center (CET) in Aképé.

Robert Dussey, Togo’s minister of foreign affairs, was in Turkey from May 29 to June 2. On this occasion, he announced that Turkish-Togolese economic days would be organized in the coming days. This should follow the business forum set to take place in Lomé this year, between September and December, gathering Togolese and Turkish economic operators.

“Now that the embassy is open, an ambassador has been appointed and she has just started working, we think that by the end of 2021, we will be able to host some Turkish investors, and in the long run, go towards Turkish-Togolese economic days, either in Lome or in Istanbul. We are working on it and it is very promising, given the desire and willingness of Turkish investors,” Dussey told Anadolu Agency.

These days, according to Prof. Dussey, will help consolidate relations between the two nations’ business operators and “encourage Turkish investment in Togo.” During his stay in Turkey, the Togolese official presented business and investment opportunities in Togo to Turkish businessmen.  He also reassured them of the security stability of the country. In return, the employers’ association of Turkey committed to mobilizing some of its members to invest in Togo.

Last thursday, Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, the Togolese Prime Minister, established a coordination committee in line with the government’s ambition to achieve universal health coverage. This project cost $70 million financed by the World Bank. 

The committee will steer the project’s implementation. The latter aims to boost basic health services and provide healthcare to all Togolese people.  

 “It will mainly involve increasing the number of health centers in the country, better equipping them, recruiting health workers and reducing the financial effort to access basic health services by allowing these vulnerable populations to benefit from health insurance,” explained Dr. Mamessilé Agba-Assih, Minister in charge of Universal Access to Health Care.

The steering committee includes sector ministries and project management units.

The universal health coverage in Togo is a flagship program of the government  2020-2025 roadmap.