Togo First
Decentralization: Municipalities to get CFA6.25 billion for their development this year
A total of CFA6.25 billion will be dedicated to the FACT, the Local Authority Support Fund. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Togolese ministries of decentralization and economy on October 1.
The monies will support all 117 municipalities of the country and will be distributed based on their population size, area, and poverty level.
Part of the amount, CFA2.5 billion, will be trusted to the National Grassroots Development Agency (ANADEB). The latter will use the money to develop several projects in municipalities.
The FACT, it should be recalled, is a mechanism for financing local municipalities. Created in October 2019, its goal is to pool funds and use them to develop Togolese municipalities.
Esaïe Edoh
PIA: Construction of soybean processing factory is going well
Togo’s minister of trade, industry, and local consumption, Kodjo Adédzé, was at the Adetikope Industrial Platform (PIA) last week. He was there to evaluate how far advanced the construction of warehouses and local processing units was.
“The construction of warehouses and processing units for products such as soybeans is progressing well,” Adédzé tweeted after his visit.
The construction was started after the signing of a deal between the PIA and Togo Agro-Resources SAU, an agribusiness firm that refines soybeans. The factory will position Togo as a soybean oil exporter, the PIA’s authorities said.
It should be noted that a cotton-processing plant is also being set up on the same site. The platform’s dry port and an electric bike assembling unit (MAUTO Togo) are already operational.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo spent about 6% of its GDP to fight Covid-19 in 2020
Togo spent about 6% of its GDP to fight Covid-19 in 2020. The estimate was disclosed by the World Bank in its latest report on the state of Africa’s economy.
The percentage corresponds to around CFA260 billion, in budget expenditures, according to data from mid-2021. This includes additional spending related to Covid-19, or revenue foregone, relative to 2020’s gross GDP (about CFAF 4,300 million).
Out of the 40 African nations the World Bank evaluated in its rankings, Togo was the fifth in terms of budgetary resources spent in fighting the virus. It is right behind Mauritius (which spent nearly 9% of its GDP), Guinea Bissau (a little more than 6%), Seychelles, and Rwanda.
Steps taken by Togo to curb the pandemic include curfews, a universal revenue for all under the Novissi scheme, a fund that supports the private sector, the facilitation of deferrals by the Bank for companies, all in a context of economic contraction, with an estimated growth rate of 1.8%.
These measures increased the national debt from 51% of GDP to about 59%, a level that remained stable until last September, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
CUBE and the UNDP launch K-PITAL Invest platform
Centre Urbain de Business et d'Entrepreneuriat (CUBE), a Lomé-based incubator, announced on October 11 the launch of K-PITAL Invest. This is a fundraising and finance-seeking program that the incubator will launch with the UNDP’s Accelerator Lab.
“K-PITAL INVEST will be a platform dedicated to connecting projects that have validated their financial and entrepreneurial management capacities through various support programs, notably those of PRIME partners (www.saeiprime.com) with financial partners from the national, sub-regional and international ecosystem,” CUBE said.
Developed with Nunya Lab, the platform will help connect entrepreneurs and investors, enable professional monitoring of projects and investments, and ensure communication around projects.
In detail, 3 fundraising programs are planned on the platform, depending on the stage of the beneficiary projects: Seed Funding (BAEE Program, including Crowdfunding, Grants, Love Money, Competitions, Public Aid), Development Funding (U-INVEST Program, including Equity, Bank Loans, Honorary Loans, Business Angels, Public Aid, State Funds, and Growth Funding (LEADER Program, which includes Venture Capital, Export Assistance, Media for equity, Development Capital offers).
The platform is looking for entrepreneurs in a wide range of sectors, such as Agriculture and agri-food chains, Health, Construction, Energy, financial services and fintech, Biotechnology, education, and industry.
Let's recall that CUBE, together with the Lacs 1 municipality and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), is behind a fish farm development program. The latter includes technical training in entrepreneurship for women.
Access the K-Pital Invest platform here.
Togo: Worship places and big bars allowed to reopen
In Togo, places of worship and “large bars”, previously closed due to health measures adopted since September 10, have been allowed to reopen.
The government made the announcement last Friday, via a statement issued by the ministers of territorial administration and culture.
“Considering the evolution of the infection in our country and after an exchange with the actors, the places of worship are now authorized to open, while taking into account the list of places of worship that were authorized to open before the closure measure,” said the Togolese authorities. At the same time, mobile vaccination structures will be deployed near these places of worship.
Similarly, they inform that “taking into account the evolution of the epidemiological situation in our country and discussions with the actors of the sectors concerned, the measures are adjusted as follows: the opening of large bars is authorized with an awareness campaign conducted by managers who will encourage customers to get vaccinated.” Authorities added that “vaccination facilities will be set up near large bars”.
Vaccination pass still mandatory
However, the obligation to present a vaccination pass before accessing administrative buildings is still compulsory, according to the government which emphasizes that “other measures remain in force.”
The measures, some of which have just been lifted, “will be adjusted depending on how the pandemic evolves in the country,” the ministers of territorial administration and tourism said. Also, restrictions implemented last month “will be systematically reintroduced if cases increase significantly.”
To date, Togo has officially recorded 1,310 active cases of Covid-19, with 235 deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, and a total of 2,531 cumulative cases.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Audit Court records new reform
The Togolese parliament adopted, last Thursday, two laws that enact a reform extending the Audit Court's powers. The reform aims to enable the Court to adapt to the new context of decentralization and meet WAEMU standards.
The first law concerns the organization and functioning of the Court of Accounts and regional courts, while the second affects the status of magistrates in these jurisdictions. Their adoption should ultimately improve the management of public finances.
The changes allow the Audit Court to assess public policies, issue opinions on annual performance reports, monitor financial controllers and program managers. They also emphasize the institution’s independence and financial autonomy, as well as its jurisdictional competence in the new territorial entities. Other provisions include the introduction of a system of renewable terms of office with an age limit of 65 years and the annual evaluation of magistrates.
Other complementary provisions have also been added, such as the removal of the limit on the total number of magistrates and its increase, the obligation for the court to audit its accounts annually, and to have its performance periodically evaluated by its peers or by the WAEMU Court of Accounts, and the inclusion of a provision on exceptions to constitutionality, among others.
The two laws recently passed were in the pipeline since the beginning of the year. They were defended before the legislature by Christian Trimua, minister in charge of human rights and government spokesman. Trimua lauded their adoption, saying it aligns with the reform of public finance management that Togo launched in 2008.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Reform partnership: GIZ seeks technical advisor
GIZ, the German cooperation agency, is looking for a technical advisor (monitoring and communication) to join its team steering the German-Togo partnership for reforms. Recruitment ends on October 17, 2021.
The hired consultant will manage information related to the partnership’s planning and implementation. It will also technically support the Ministry of Planning, Development and Cooperation (MPDC) as strategic coordinator of the partnership with all other administrations involved.
As a reminder, the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development had committed, last March, to stimulate the reforms of the Togolese macroeconomic framework on behalf of the G20's Compact with Africa (CwA) program. This was after talks with the Togolese foreign affairs minister, Robert Dussey, who was in Berlin at the time.
Togo to open an embassy in Saudi Arabia
Togo will open an embassy in Saudi Arabia. The announcement was made last week by Togolese foreign affairs minister, Robert Dussey.
The decision aligns with efforts by the two nations to improve their relations. In this framework, several agreements should be signed in a few months. These include notably a memorandum of understanding between the Togolese and Saudi chambers of commerce, a deal to boost and protect the countries’ reciprocal investments, and another to boost technical, economic, and trade cooperation.
Regarding security, Togo said it would like to be supported by the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology to fight against terrorism. As a result, an MoU was announced to this end.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
President Erdogan expected in Lomé on October 20
President Recep Erdogan from Turkey should be in Lomé on Oct. 20, 2021, for an official visit. The news was disclosed by TVNET, a Turkish media.
According to the same source, the leader, who will meet President Gnassingbe, will first be in Angola (October 17), and Nigeria (October 18).
President Erdogan’s trip to Togo is announced at a time when Lomé and Ankara want to boost their cooperation, economically notably. Last August, 13th, President Erdogan and President Gnassingbe, several media reported, had a phone call to discuss regional and bilateral issues.
At the time, Erdogan had also hinted at strengthening cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of defense. Partnership agreements are thus expected to be signed during his visit -the first- to Lomé.
President Erdogan comes after several trips to Ankara by Togolese officials, including Togo’s foreign affairs minister, Robert Dussey, and the minister of security, Yark Damehane.
Last April, Turkey opened an embassy in Togo.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Microfinance loans up 38% in Q2 2021, y/y
Togolese microfinance institutions loaned CFA47 billion between April and June 2021. That is CFA10 billion more than they did in the quarter before, and 38% more than in Q2 2020.
Similarly, loans by traditional banks stood at CFA217 billion in Q2 2021, up by 59% compared to the same quarter last year. Results for Q1 2021 were also satisfying, according to conclusions of the latest National Credit Council which was chaired by Minister-Counsellor Simfeitcheou Pré.
In parallel, by the end of June 2021, banks and microfinance institutions were, respectively, able to recover more than half and a third of their outstanding debt. “All these encouraging evolutions helped increase lending to the economy by 4%, year-to-year, to stand at 1,376 billion at June 30, 2021; that is 30% of the GDP,” the ministry of finance and economy indicated.
Though he lauded managers of banks and microfinance institutions for their results, Simfeitcheou Pré still urged them to lower their interest rates and lend more to very small and medium-sized businesses, explaining that the low financing of these enterprises “was impairing their contribution to wealth and job creation.” The Minister-Counsellor added that lending to agriculture and housing sectors should also be raised.
“In the second quarter of 2021, new bank loans granted to the agriculture and housing sectors accounted for only 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively, of their total lending. I hope that during our next CNC sessions, we will be able to assess, in-depth, factors that prevent the financing of these two sectors that are conducive to inclusive growth,” said Simfeitcheou Pré.
Klétus Situ