Togo First
WAEMU: Togo is the 3rd country to earn the most from privatization in the Union
Togo is the third country in the WAEMU to have earned the most from privatizing its companies - $104 million or CFA58 billion (for 78 firms). According to Kapi Consult, which disclosed the information, Togo comes behind Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal.
The first two raised $423 million and $217 million by privatizing 82 and 75 companies, respectively. Right behind Togo is Mali, with $100 million generated through 88 privatization operations.
A few days ago, the Togolese State announced that it has sold its stake in Banque Togolaise du Commerce et de l'Industrie (BTCI) to IB Holding. This means it is now the sole shareholder in only 16 companies, including the autonomous port of Lomé, the Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo (SNPT), and hotels such as Kara, Sarakawa, and Roch Hôtel.
The State also holds shares in 26 other firms, including SOTRAL (Société de Transports de Lomé), of which it holds 96%, T-oil gas stations (79%), la Société togolaise de stockage de Lomé (STSL), Société aéroportuaire de Lomé (SALT) which manages the airport of Lomé (60%).
Union togolaise des banques (UTB), one of the companies fully-owned by the State, is also being privatized.
Esaïe Edoh
Lomé-based Incubator, Energy Generation, launches training program for women only
Energy Generation, an incubator based in Lome, is launching an entrepreneurship excellence program for women only. The Wenyonu program as it is called will teach Togolese women solar entrepreneurship to empower them.
In this framework, the incubator issued this month a call for registration to select 80 women across Togo’s five economic regions. Selected applicants will be trained as technical commercials in the solar energy sector.
Backed by the PISCCA Fund (established by the French embassy in Togo), the program will provide technical training in sizing, setting up, and maintaining PV solar systems. Personalized coaching and entrepreneurial training will also be given, and business projects could be financed through a loan mechanism.
“Women who have a business project could get seed funding,” Energy Generation said. “The whole program will take place in Lomé and is free. Some money will be provided for women picked to attend the program, to reduce their spending, enable them to come to Lomé and stay throughout the training.”
This is a 3-month training (January to March 2022) that will be held on Energy Generation’s campus in Lomé. For those who need it, the incubator’s support could be extended to December 2022.
Doing Business: “The report’s discontinuation won’t have any impact on the reforms’ dynamic,” Sandra Johnson says
Togo will keep introducing business-friendly reforms regardless of the discontinuation of the World Bank’s Doing Business report. Sandra Ablamba Johnson, minister secretary-general in charge of business climate, made the statement on Sept. 28 in an interview.
“The report’s discontinuation won’t have any impact on the reforms’ dynamic,” she said. Johnson explained further saying the reforms, which are aimed at attracting investments in the country, were not solely implemented for the sake of the Doing Business. They were driven by “the leadership of the Head of State who always wanted to make Togo a safe place for investments.”
The Doing Business, she continued, “is an encouraging tool, not a coercive one.” “Our efforts to improve the business climate are aimed at improving the living standards of the Togolese people; they don’t target rankings or observers.”
As a reminder, driven by several reforms, Togo gained 40 points in the 2020 DB report. It was ranked 97th in the report, the best reformer in Africa, and the 3rd best in the world.
The Doing Business was a report that assessed the ease of doing business in various countries. It was canceled on September 17, 2021, due to many irregularities found in the 2018 and 2020 editions. Togo was not affected by the findings, according to the World Bank.
Esaïe Edoh
2020 Ranking of Banks Operating in Togo
Togo First presents the 2020 ranking of banks operating in Togo, by assets, deposits, and loans.
With a total balance sheet of CFA710 billion, Orabank kept its position as the leading bank in Togo in 2020. It came far ahead of the runner-up Ecobank (CFA462 billion).
Orabank, which is headed by the Cameroonian Guy Awona, is also the country’s first lender, with outstanding loans valued at more than CFAF 414 billion. The same goes for deposits collected; they stood above CFA366 billion at the end of 2020.
While Ecobank has maintained its second place in terms of assets and deposits, the pan-African bank has lost its position as Togo’s second-largest lender in 2020 to Union Togolaise de Banque (UTB). Ecobank's lending to the economy fell by 21%, due to Covid-19. Meanwhile, UTB, which is being privatized, lent CFA170 to the economy; that is 9% more than it did in 2019.
The fastest-growing bank last year was Coris Bank International. Its assets more than doubled (50.9%) as deposits soared 27% to stand at CFA126 billion. Its loans also grew, passing CFA100 billion for the first time. Idrissa Nassa’s bank was the third-largest bank in the country, ahead of BTCI, UTB, and Banque Atlantique.
In contrast, Société Générale’s assets slumped slightly (-0.53%). Assets of Société InterAfricaine de Banque (SIAB) were also down, standing at CFA10.1 billion. The financial intermediary barely meets the minimum capital requirement set by WAEMU’s banking commission.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
ASKY boosts connectivity in Africa
Pan-African Airlines Asky announced it will, starting next Oct. 1, increase flights to most of its destinations. This is part of the company’s efforts to improve its connectivity across the continent.
Asky, which is based in Lomé, will fly every day to Abuja, Bamako, Conakry, Monrovia, and N’djamena. It will serve Accra on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
According to the statement published by the carrier, the change in flight schedules aims to “improve connectivity, increase frequencies, and provide a flawless daily service in a very short delay.”
The measure aligns with Togolese authorities’ ambition to make Lomé’s airport a first-class logistics hub in terms of passenger traffic. This was also why the airport was renovated in 2016. The infrastructure can presently receive 2 million passengers per year.
Esaïe Edoh
Mobile Money: Wave launches recruitment process in Togo
Wave International, a mobile money operator, will soon start operating in Togo. The firm, to this end, recently launched a tender to recruit staff in Togo and other countries.
In 2019, a delegation from the operator had met in South Africa with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé. On that occasion, the firm told the leader it wanted to set up offices in Togo.
Gilles Assouline, MD Wave International, said at the time that the company wanted to support Togo’s National Development Plan (NDP).
"I presented to Mr. President the major concepts that drive the operations of this platform, which are in line with the 17 SDGs. The examples were taken from those presented in the NDP and which are in line with the presidential vision that we wish to help materialize."
Founded by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk, Wave is a fintech company with a presence in several African countries, including Senegal and Ivory Coast. It offers low-cost mobile money transfers. Depositing and withdrawing cash using the app is free while sending funds to another user costs 1% of the amount transferred. In 2020, Sendwave was among the most used money transfer applications in Senegal.
Wave International’s arrival in Togo should make the mobile money market, which is currently dominated by Togocom and Moov Africa, more competitive.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Covid Slashes 2020 Tourism Revenues by 64%
Tourist arrivals in Togo were down by 49.1% last year, compared to 2019. The drop was reported by the minister of tourism, Kossi Lamadokou, today, the 42nd World Tourism Day.
In detail, the arrivals plunged from 946,376 to 481,706 due to Covid-19 (health restrictions and the shutdown of the airport). This pulled down tourism revenues by 64% - from CFA53 billion to CFA19 billion.
According to the ministry of tourism, the results, attributable to the pandemic’s "disastrous" consequences, contrast with the progress made between 2017 and 2018 and go against Lomé’s ambition to boost tourism.
Lamadokou, the minister of tourism, said tackling this challenge will require valorizing tourist infrastructures, and revamping inland tourism. To this end, the government announced a few days ago a census of tourist establishments to “ensure better visibility and make tourism a high added-value sector both at the national and international levels.”
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Islamic Development Bank to Support Rural Electrification Projects in Togo with $20M
The Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) will spend $20.5 million (CFA11.3 billion) to advance rural electricity projects in Togo. The news was announced by the Bank on Sept. 26, after its board met.
The projects - which involve mini solar panels - aim to “improve human development by providing a sustainable supply of electricity to rural people in Togo who live in dense and sparsely populated areas, far from the existing grid.” In detail, 372 schools, 22,092 households, and 102 health centers will benefit from the financing, said the ISDB.
The Jeddah-based institution is one of Togo’s historical partners when it comes to electrification. It previously loaned the West African country $49 million for projects in the northern region (to expand the CEB’s high voltage network from Dapaong to Mango).
At the end of 2020, Togo’s external debt to the ISDB was CFA61.45 billion, up 15% from 2019 (CFA53.36 billion). This makes the lender the country’s third multilateral creditor, after the IMF and the World Bank.
During yesterday’s board meeting, besides Togo, the ISDB also extended its support to Iraq ($17 million) and Bangladesh ($36.4 million).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Why did Sanlam sell its life unit in Togo to NSIA?
“This is a bipartite agreement between our group Sanlam and the NSIA group,” commented Simon Pierre Gouem, MD Sanlam Togo, after the group sold some of its insurance units to the Ivorian NSIA.
“Sanlam sold its life insurance units in Togo and Gabon, its non-life units in Congo and Guinea to the NSIA group. At the same time it acquired NSIA’s life and non-life units in Mali,” the executive declared.
Gouem, who has headed Sanlam Togo since 2018, explained that the move is “part of a financial strategy, and each group has made a good deal that lines up with its development and profitability goals.”
Leveraging Saham’s strengths
Sanlam, let’s recall, became Africa’s largest insurer after acquiring the Moroccan Saham Assurances for $1.1 billion. In Togo, Sanlam plans to build on Saham’s strengths as the latter was the local market leader in non-life insurance, with FCFA 13 billion in 2020, compared with only FCFA 1 billion for life insurance.
"Selling the Sanlam life unit was strategic. It is a new subsidiary and in the group's strategy, everything we develop must be profitable. Given the results of the life subsidiary, which are not yet visible, the smart move was to sell and focus on the non-life segment. Especially in Togo where we have been recording great results for a long time, we have been very strong for a long time," said Simon Pierre Gouem, the leader in this segment.
"We want to reassure our partners and clients that this operation will not affect the quality of our services. Better still, it will strengthen our financial base and our ability to cover the risks feared by our policyholders and prospects,” he added.
Last May, Saham Assurances officially became Sanlam, the South African insurer. Acquiring Saham enabled Sanlam to expand its presence significantly - it is physically active in 32 African countries, and 44 via joint ventures and partnerships.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
African Solidarity Fund to help COFINA raise CFA5 billion for expansion
The African Solidarity Fund (ASF) will help COFINA -an Ivorian meso-finance group- raise CFA5 billion for its expansion in West Africa, and Togo especially.
The two signed a guarantee agreement in this framework on Sept. 22. In line with the agreement, the funds will be raised by COFINA’s holding, Compagnie Transnationale d’Investissement (CTI), from Sunu Participations Holding SA - a financial services company, while ASF will co-guarantee the operation with CFA2 billion (40% of the total financing).
The agreement was signed by Ahmadou Abdoulaye Diallo, CEO of the ASF, and Charles-Eric Moulod, Cofina Group's SG and Cofina-Togo's MD.
"Funds mobilized through this operation will serve to extend and develop the CTI network. Through this operation, the ASF contributes to the development of Cofina, a financial institution specialized in meso-finance that is based in eight African countries (Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso, and Togo)," said Ahmadou Abdoulaye Diallo, head of the multilateral guarantee institution.
COFINA Togo launched its activities in March this year. Since then, it has partnered with many entities that support local entrepreneurship to impact SMEs and local businesses, especially in the agricultural sector.
The African Solidarity Fund (ASF) will help COFINA -an Ivorian meso-finance group- raise CFA5 billion for its expansion in West Africa, and Togo especially.
The two signed a guarantee agreement in this framework on Sept. 22. Under the agreement, the ASF will, alongside SUNU Participations Holding SA, disburse CFA2 billion (40% of the total financing) to co-guarantee the fundraising.
The agreement was signed by Ahmadou Abdoulaye Diallo, CEO of the ASF, and Charles-Eric Moulod, Cofina Group's SG and Cofina-Togo's MD.
"Funds mobilized through this operation will serve to extend and develop the CTI network. Through this operation, the ASF contributes to the development of Cofina, a financial institution specialized in meso-finance that is based in eight African countries (Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso, and Togo)," said Ahmadou Abdoulaye Diallo, head of the multilateral guarantee institution.
COFINA Togo launched its activities in March this year. Since then, it has partnered with many entities that support local entrepreneurship in order to impact SMEs and local businesses, especially in the agricultural sector.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi