Togo will hold the fourth international conference on social enterprises and corporate and social responsibility next week, on September 9 and 10. One of the organizers, the ministry of grassroots development, youth, and youth employment announced the event in a press conference organized last Thursday.

The conference’s theme is “Social Entrepreneurship: A lever to dynamize job creation in local communities.”  Over 2,000 participants are expected, according to organizers. Panelists from Cameroon, the United States, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Romania, Haiti, and Togo, will share their experiences regarding social responsibility.

Recommendations resulting from the conference will, according to the ministry of grassroots development, enable the implementation of a mechanism to support and advance social entrepreneurship across Togo’s local communities.

Besides the ministry of grassroots development, other organizers include the US embassy and Ecobank Group. The conference regroups political decision-makers, development partners, and social economy experts and actors.

 Esaïe Edoh

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed last Wednesday its new resident representative in Togo: Maximilien Kaffo. Kaffo, a Cameroonian, replaced Burkinabe Jules Tapsoba who has held the position since September 2017. 

The Cameroonian joined the Bretton Woods institution in 2014, as a consultant. Before that, he was working in his country as an economist at the ministry of economy. 

Maximilien Kaffo is a graduate from the University of Yaoundé 1, the University of Montreal in Canada, and the National Advanced School of Statistics and Applied Economics in Côte d’Ivoire

The first mission of the newly-appointed is to take part “in the talks aimed at finalizing agreements for a new Extended Credit Facility (ECF).”  Under the first ECF, which covered the 2018-2020 period, Togo obtained around $245 million.

The talks for a second ECF were initiated by Lomé last June. If conclusive, Togo will get IMF’s support to tackle Covid-19 and restart economic activities.

A few months ago, in May, IMF announced in Paris - during the Summit on the financing of African economies - that it would disburse $240 million for Togo. Two months later, 14 African countries, including Togo, were picked to get a new package of  Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) valued at $33 billion. 

 Esaïe Edoh

Togo recently acceded to the Agreement establishing Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA). This was revealed in a statement issued by the Bank on Tuesday, August 31.

Togo signed the Agreement alongside South Sudan. They joined Rwanda (which has ratified the Agreement), Mauritania, and Guinea as signatories.

According to Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank and Board Chairman of FEDA, the accession of Togo and South Sudan gives the entity international recognition.

“The recent accessions to the FEDA Establishment Agreement by the Republic of Togo and the Republic of South Sudan and the ratification by the Republic of Rwanda is a demonstration of the growing momentum and support for FEDA as a new multilateral development platform, which will play a critical role in promoting industrialization, export development, and Intra-African trade, Oramah declared.

FEDA’s goal is to “support the expansion of industrial infrastructure and promote intra-African trade.”  It also aims to finance businesses operating key industries and sectors to better achieve Afreximbank’s development priorities.

 Esaïe Edoh

The World Food Program (WFP) will focus its activities in Togo around three axes over the 2021-2022 period. This was disclosed by the entity’s resident representative and country director, Aboubacar Koisha, during a meeting with Prime Minister Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé.

The first axis is social protection and social nets. It will cover 170,000 people struggling due to the ongoing health crisis and climate shocks. “Through this axis, we will support 20,000 people, with the food team, and 15,000 with cash transfers,” Koisha said.

The next axis aims to support and make more resilient the sustainable food system while boosting producers’ capacities across the whole value chain.

The third and last axis covers the logistics sector. “Through this axis,”  WFP’s representative indicated, “we have a logistics operation via which we’ll import food using the high-capacity ships that come to the autonomous port of Lomé and this food will be sent to landlocked countries as well as some coastal nations like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Nigeria, and Benin.”

Between July and December 2020, the WFP distributed around 2,000 tons of food in Togo’s five economic regions. The support, which was part of the UN’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, benefited 242,500 people. 

Esaïe Edoh

The government disbursed CFA300 million for cultural actors, under the 2021 Fund for Support to Culture (FAC). The list of beneficiaries was released by the ministry of culture and tourism on September 1. 

The money will finance 512 projects picked out of 965 submitted in response to a call for projects launched by the government. This is a timely blessing for cultural actors who have been struggling due to the measures Lomé imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CFA300 million will be shared as follows: 131 million for 252 performing arts projects, 31 million for plastic art projects, 58 million for film projects, 24 million for literature projects, 40.4 million for heritage conservation projects, and 15 million to enable Togolese actors to attend local and international cultural events. 

This is the sixth time that the government is supporting cultural actors through the FAC.

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo has joined the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). It was disclosed on the OECD's official portal.   

Togo is the 140th country to join the tax reform. Doing so, it commits to implementing the 15 reforms the OECD recommends to tackle tax avoidance and regulate multinationals' activities. 

"Through its membership, Togo has also committed to addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy by joining the two-pillar plan to reform the international tax rules and ensure that multinational enterprises pay a fair share of tax wherever they operate, bringing to 134 the total number of jurisdictions participating in the agreement," the OECD said.   

The first pillar of the two-pillar package will enable fairer distribution of profits and taxing rights among countries concerning the largest Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), including digital companies that operate, physically or not, and make profits in the West African country.  

The second pillar will introduce a global minimum corporate tax rate that countries can use to protect their tax bases. 

There are still many details Togo will look into regarding the two-pillar plan. An agreement should be signed by the end of October 2021 but it will be implemented in 2023. 

Klétus Situ

Set to end next December, the School Assur program has covered 2,615,962 healthcare services as of August 29, 2021. The data was disclosed by the ministry of financial inclusion and the informal sector. 

In detail, the program has financed 1,031,059 medical visits, 13,660 admissions, 48,097 surgeries, 290,310 analyses, and 1,232,836 drug purchases. 

According to the source, the figures reflect the growing impact of this presidential program, especially on the health of public school students and pupils.”

School Assur was launched in 2017. As a presidential initiative, it aimed to provide free healthcare services to public primary and secondary school students. It mainly covers sickness and liability risks.

The program should have ended in 2020, but it was extended to the end of this year. 

Esaïe Edoh