Ecobank and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) have raised $2 million (about CFA1 billion) for the 100,000 MSMSEs Finance program launched in June 2020. 

According to the statement announcing the mobilization, “a total sum of $2.0 million will be extended in the form of working capital to beneficiaries who meet the set criteria across the eight countries in this first phase.”

In effect, 30 beneficiaries from Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Togo will receive the monies.

Those interested in getting financed have until May 21 to register for the online training organized in this framework. The training and financing component of the initiative should commence on May 27, 2021. It will include four modules and cover themes such as “risk management, business sustainability, and bankability, operation adaptation and commercial conformity, and leadership development.”

“AUDA-NEPAD is deeply convinced that Africa's structural transformation will be driven by youth and women-led businesses and innovations,” said Amine Idriss Adoum, AUDA-NEPAD's Director of Program Delivery and Coordination Directorate.

“Following the successful launch of the MSME Academy, we are now going ahead with the financing component. We look forward to celebrating the businesses that will successfully go through this training program and meet the criteria for financial support,” said Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Ecobank Group Executive Commercial Banking. 

The 100,000 MSMEs, let’s recall, seeks to support 100,000 micro, small and medium enterprises, helping them to be resilient against the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Daniel Agbenonwossi (intern)

Works to expand Cimtogo’s cement plant are almost done. The Managing Director of HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary, Eric Goulignac, announced on May 18, 2021, that the plant’s first output would be produced in June 2021.  

The announcement was made during a visit by the minister of investment promotion, Kayi Midevor, and the minister of trade, Kodjo Adedze. 

The plant, which cost about CFA20 billion (30 million pounds), should increase Cimtogo’s production capacity to 2.1 million tons per year. It should bolster competition against other companies operating in the country, namely Dangote, Wacem, and the cement factory of Burkinabe mogul, Kanazoé (the latter plans to produce 2.5 million tons of cement per year).

Cimtogo’s expansion should also generate 1,000 more jobs, thus aligning with the second axis of the government's 2020-2025 roadmap, lauded Minister Midevor. 

Established in Togo for over 50 years, HeidelbergCement has a grinding plant in Kara and an integrated clinker factory in Tabligbo. These two will also be expanded in the coming months. 

Adding monies spent on the ongoing expansion, the firm has injected $250 million within the last nine years only in the West African country.

After the aid to African countries summit in Paris, Togo’s President, Faure Gnassingbé, will head to Brussels to meet with eminent figures such as the President of the European Council. The information was disclosed by the Togolese Presidency. 

“At the invitation of the President of the European Council, H.E. Charles Michel, the President of the Togolese Republic will then go to Brussels, where the strengthening of the partnership between the European Union and Togo in economic, political and commercial matters will be discussed.” 

The meeting, according to a source close to the presidency, will enable both parties to recapitulate progress made since their cooperation resumed in 2006. This will also be an occasion for the Togolese delegation to present Lomé’s new ambitions under the new government roadmap and seek support from the EU.   

The EU, since 2006, has developed many projects in Togo, across various sectors. Since 2018, it has backed the West African nation’s strategy to improve political governance and foster human rights, through multiple initiatives estimated to have cost around £17.195 million (CFA11.2 billion).

To help Togo fight covid-19, the Old Continent provided it with CFA13 billion.  

It should be noted that Togo was at the heart of the Lomé Conventions to dynamize relations between the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (ACP) and the EU. The country coordinated activities on behalf of the African side during talks for the new Post-Cotonou Agreements.

As part of its financing strategy to revive economies in the WAEMU post-covid, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) has raised about CFA50 billion on the WAEMU’s debt market. 

The sum, part of a total of CFA240 billion, is to finance various projects in 7 of the WAEMU States. So far, 19 eligible projects were preselected. One of them is Togo’s Agricultural Development Support Project (PADAT) which will receive a billion CFA. 

In detail, CFA22 billion will go to the private sector-led projects and 34 billion to State-led initiatives. 

“Financing these projects will not only contribute to the revival of the economy but also create jobs, boost food security, fight poverty and support SMEs through financial institutions,” said EBID. 

Klétus Situ

Moov Africa Togo will appear in a public hearing before the Telecommunication and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) this Tuesday 18 May 2021.

The telecom operator will respond to a “failure to meet the obligation of permanence, continuity and availability of its services, in accordance with its specifications.”

The case comes after service interruptions in several localities in Togo, between June and September 2020 - interruptions that led to sanctioning by the telecom watchdog.  

On November 9, 2020, the ARCEP launched a sanction procedure against Maroc Telecom's Togolese subsidiary for violating its terms of reference.

Following the hearing, the regulatory authority, which is increasingly making its presence felt in the telecoms sector, is expected to take measures to “ensure the quality of the operator's services.”

Daniel Agbenonwossi (intern)

In Togo, the National Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (INHPC) stood at 109.7 in April 2021. This is an increase of 2.7% compared to March, according to data compiled by the National Institute of Statistics, Economic Studies, and Demography (Inseed).  

The rise in inflation rate was mainly driven by higher prices of food products and non-alcoholic drinks- which grew 7.7% - and a 0.5% increase in household spending (rent, water, gas, electricity, and other fuels) and 0.6% in health costs.

Also, slight increases were noted in the restaurant and hotel sector (+0.1%) and services (+0.2%), while prices of alcoholic drinks, tobacco, and other drugs fell by 1%. 

These figures are relatively higher than the general level of inflation in the WAEMU, which is 0.1% according to the commission's figures. 

Klétus Situ

From CFA516.3 billion in 2015, tax earnings in Togo surged 21.29% to 626.2 billion in 2019. The increase was driven by the Tax Governance Support Project (PAGFI), indicates a report of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the project’s main financial backer. 

The period corresponds to the first years of operation of the PAGFI. The project’s goal is to sustainably increase Togo’s financial resources and accelerate its transition out of the group of fragile countries. 

Despite the improvement recorded, the country failed to meet, mostly due to Covid-19, the expectations of the AfDB. Indeed, the pan-African bank hoped that Togo’s economy would have grown from 5.5% in 2014 to 7% in 2020. However, according to Sani Yaya, minister of finance, at the end of 2020, the figure stood at 1.8%, up 1.1 percentage point more than national forecasts. 

Regardless, “the project is on the right track to achieve its final development objectives, considering the will shown by parties concerned to speed up its activities,” the AfDB stressed. 

The PAGFI benefits from a CFA12.5 billion financing and covers the 2016-2021 period.

The EU delegation in Togo plans to financially back projects and programs under the government’s 2020-2025 roadmap. 

Joaquín Tasso Vilallonga, EU ambassador to Togo, in an interview with Focus Infos, declared: “the financial instrument (formerly European Fund for Development) will be replaced with a new budget instrument and a plan for the coming years that will integrate the strategic priorities of our cooperation. As for future cooperation, it will logically be coherent with Togolese priorities as defined by the government in the 2020-2025 roadmap.”  

These new financial instruments, according to the European diplomat, will be jointly designed with the embassies of France and Germany to maximize the coherence and impact of the overall cooperation with the EU. 

The announcement was made some weeks after a new economic partnership agreement was signed between the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU. The latter defined common values, principles, and goals of signees. 

It should be emphasized that since the resumption of the EU-Togo cooperation in 2006, after nearly 13 years, the EU has been regularly supporting Togo in various areas: political, economic, and social. 

In December 2020, to help the country tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU announced it would provide budget support of €48 million (around CFA31 billion). Meanwhile, in agriculture, the Union, together with Germany, co-financed the PRACOFAT, a project aimed at making Togo’s pineapple sector more competitive; They invested CFA30 million in this project.