Togo First
The Decade of African Roots and Diasporas: Dussey Urges Rapid Action-Taking
Togo’s minister of foreign affairs, Robert Dussey, chaired on Monday the second virtual meeting of the High Committee for the Decade of African roots and diasporas. On the occasion, he advocated for rapid implementation of the decision taken by the Heads of State and Government Conference regarding the 2021-2031 Agenda.
The Togolese diplomat argued that it was necessary to “meet, as fast as possible, the expectations of the African diasporas and increase their contribution to the development of countries, individually, as well as to the achievement of goals of the Africa Union’s 2063 Agenda.”
Following Dussey’s plea, participants present agreed on short and mid-term actions to take to make the process inclusive, by involving African diasporas: from the Americas, the Pacific, the Antilles, the Carribeans, and non-State actors. In the same framework, Morocco said it would support the initiative with $200,000.
The Decade of African roots and diasporas is a Togo-led initiative. Its goal is to make the African diaspora key actors of Africa’s development.
Covid-19: people aged 18 and above can get vaccinated now
Eighteen-year-old people can get vaccinated against Covid-19 from now on in Togo. The government announced in a statement released on Sept. 13.
The country, which received new Pfizer and Sinovac shots last week, is deploying the vaccines across the territory. “These shots are being distributed in all of the country’s regions and will be administered to those aged 18 and above,” Lomé wrote in the statement.
The authorities thus urged people concerned to “go to the nearest health center to get their first shot or their second for those who already got their first.”
Let’s recall that the government decided to vaccinate 60% of the population, to achieve herd immunity. To this end, anyone visiting an administrative building must show their proof of vaccination.
Esaïe Edoh
SDGs: What Togolese People Think about The Country’s Progress
Seventy-two percent of people living in Togo said they faced moderate or high poverty over the past year. This is one of the major conclusions of a survey that Afrobarometer conducted on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Under the study, 1,200 adults, all Togolese, were interviewed between December 2020 and January 2021. “The survey’s results present citizens’ opinions regarding 12 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, comparable to official progress-measuring indicators,” Afrobarometer said.
Mitigated access to basic social services
Concerning access to basic social services, 74% of those surveyed claimed they have access to a safe source of water, 32% said they have access to drinking water in their house or compound, and 31% said they lacked clean water in the last 12 months.
Regarding electricity, dispatched enumerators found that 71% of the households surveyed had electricity. However, only 56% of the surveyed reported they were connected to the grid. As for access to the GSM network, 83% of the surveyed are covered.
Afrobarometer’s experts also found that there are schools in 83% of the area surveyed, with 71% of the sample population claiming they attended secondary school - 56% female.
Regarding health, the coverage rate for the area surveyed is 43% and only 23% of those surveyed said they never lacked healthcare in the past year.
A retrospective comparison
Compared to 2014, last year’s figures are better, especially for indicators related to SDGs 1, 2, 3, and 7, respective to poverty reduction, zero hunger, health, clean and affordable electricity.
Between 2014 and now, the number of people who have access to the grid grew by 5%, while those having running water in their houses and compounds increased by 7% in number. Meanwhile, the percentage of women surveyed with at least a high school education soared by 10%, over the period reviewed.
Klétus Situ
The International Conference on Social Enterprises Will Effectively Begin on Sep. 16
Initially set to take place on Sept. 9-10, the fourth international conference on social enterprises and corporate social responsibility (CSR) will effectively be held, virtually, on Sept. 16 and 17 in Lomé. This was disclosed by a source close to the ministry of grassroots development.
Themed “Social Entrepreneurship: A lever to dynamize job creation in local ccoommunities, the event, the organizers said, will cover new forms of entrepreneurship in local communities and ways to create and sustain jobs. Over 2,000 participants are expected.
The forum should produce recommendations aimed at developing a mechanism that will support local communities and expand social entrepreneurship, the ministry of grassroots development said.
Participants expected include political decision-makers, development partners, experts, and actors of the social economy. The conference is organized by the ministry of grassroots development, the US embassy, and Ecobank ETI.
Esaïe Edoh
Women Leadership: Togo Ahead of France, Germany, and Sweden
In Togo, 70% of the people in positions of leadership are women. The West African country is, according to a survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO), ahead of countries like Russia (46%), Sweden (42%), the US (41%), France (36%), and Germany.
“To get to that position in the global ranking, Togo has, for many years, been promoting women leadership, by appointing them at top political positions,” the report reads.
For example, since September 2020, the Prime Minister is a woman: Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe. The National Assembly is also chaired by a woman, Yawa Djigbodi Tsegan, since July 2018.
There is also Sandra Ablamba Johnson who is Secretary General of the Presidency, or Awa Nana-Daboya, Mediator of the Republic, and many more.
Togo’s women’s empowerment policy recently led it to secure financing from the Elsie Initiative set up to increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women in UN peace operations.
Esaïe Edoh
Gov’t Adopts Draft Bill Establishing Universal Health Insurance in Togo
The council of ministers adopted, last Thursday, the draft bill establishing universal health insurance in Togo.
The project falls under the first axis of the 2020-2025 government roadmap. This is “a major innovation in terms of social protection in our country. It will allow all layers of the population to have access to quality healthcare, through a mechanism that mutualizes risks and solidarity in financing,” the government said. The bill paves the way for the implementation of the project.
In June, Prime Minister Victoire Dogbe announced the creation of a committee to coordinate the project.
Before that, in March, the World Bank backed the project with $70 million.
Klétus Situ
Telecom regulator ARCEP starts national sensitization tour
Togo’s telecom and post regulator, ARCEP, started on Thursday a national tour to inform and sensitize consumers’ associations about its mission: protecting and defending consumers’ interests.
Topics to be discussed include service quality, tariff rules, users’ identification, and the decree that puts a limit on the number of SIM cards a given user can hold.
The ARCEP explained the campaign saying that “several issues in the provision of mobile communication services, relative to the quality of service and tariffs, were recorded.” At the end of the tour, the institution added, consumer associations will be able to “efficiently trace complaints” about irregularities in the services provided by mobile operators.
Last May, the regulator imposed on Moov Africa Togo a CFA600 million fine for not meeting the obligations of “permanence, continuity, and availability of services, as set out in its specifications.” A few months earlier, in February, Togocel was fined CFA1 billion by the ARCEP for violating its on/off-net tariff differentiation rule.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: International conference on corporate social responsibility postponed
Initially scheduled to take place on September 9-10, the 4th international conference on social enterprises and corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been postponed to September 16 and 17. This was announced by the Center for Social Entrepreneurship Resources (CeRES) on Twitter.
The conference is organized by the ministry of grassroots development and youth employment, and the US embassy in Togo. It will gather several actors and experts of the social entrepreneurship and CSR domains.
Just like last year, this year’s edition will be held online. The talks will focus on how social entrepreneurship can contribute to the economic development of local communities.
COFINA and MIFA team up to finance agricultural actors
COFINA will back local agricultural actors with a CFA10 million facility. The related agreement was signed Wednesday between the company and the Agricultural Financing Incentive Mechanism (MIFA).
COFINA will support the mechanism with its expertise and experience in terms of financing SMEs. It will also support the MIFA in promoting and valorizing the agricultural sector.
The agreement palliates the lack of financing faced by agricultural actors. “COFINA’s ambition is to significantly contribute to transforming our Togolese SMEs into the African multinationals of the future. They are our future champions, and that’s why we support them today,” said Charles-Eric Moulod, Managing Director COFINA, during the signing.
The agreement, the two signatories said, aligns with the second axis of the national development plan (PND). This axis focuses on industrial development in value-adding sectors; sectors that are export-oriented.
A few days ago, COFINA signed with CUBE, an incubator, a partnership agreement to finance expanding businesses.
Esaïe Edoh
PM Dogbe urges concerned actors to better handle the Covid-19 crisis
Togolese Prime Minister, Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé, met last Tuesday with the various actors engaged in the fight against Covid-19 in the country. She told them to implement safety measures more efficiently.
Amid a resurgence in the number of cases and deaths tied to the virus, the PM urged actors concerned to “reinforce the safety measures and remobilize populations for their efficient implementation, to slow the pandemic and reverse the curve.”
The number of active cases has quadrupled with more than 5,000 people infected. Deaths keep rising, said Prof. Didier Koumavi Ekouévi, Chairman of the Scientific Council. From June where only four people were reported to have succumbed to the virus, this number rose to 22 and 33, in July and August respectively.
Thus, “stricter measures were proposed to keep under control the situation which is getting concerning,” the actors present at the meeting with the PM said.
Measures introduced by the government to curb the pandemic include the obligation to wear a face mask, the closure of land borders and worship places (which are only partially opened). On September 7, 200 deaths, 4,810 active cases, 17,822 recoveries, and 22,832 confirmed cases had been reported.
Togo is second in Africa, and 15th in the world to handle the Covid-19 pandemic best, according to a study conducted by the Lowy Institute.
Esaïe Edoh