Togo First
Steel Cube Togo has exported 20,000 t of iron since it started operations
Since it started operations in Togo in April 2019, Steel Cube Togo Sarl, which produces FE 500 iron rods, has exported over 20,000 tons of iron. This was revealed by Kumar Tiwari, MD of the company, after meeting with PM Victoire Tomegah Dogbe last week.
Also, the executive indicated that the SCT will expand its Kara factory and diversify its portfolio of activities.
“We appreciate Togo’s National Development Plan and with our factory in Kara, we contribute to this plan to accelerate economic development in Togo,” Tiwari said adding, “we will use local input which we get in Dapaong, Cinkassé, Bassar, Sokodé, and Sotouboua.”
The Indian businessman lauded the business environment which is favorable to his firm. “We have no input or electricity issues and we congratulate the Togolese government for the support and incentives we enjoy,” he concluded.
Let’s recall that early this month, Steel Cube Togo was visited by the minister of trade and industry. Subsequently, it announced it would create 1,000 more direct jobs in the coming months.
Klétus Situ
Novissi cash transfer program resumes in the Savannah region
The government of Togo decided to relaunch the Novissi cash transfer program in the Savannah region, especially for the people of Cinkassé, Kpendjal, Oti, Tandjouaré, and Tône.
These populations were subjected to restriction measures to prevent Covid-19 cases from rising in the region.
The scheme will be deployed in the next two weeks. It will enable men and women in the prefectures concerned to get respectively CFA6,125 and CFA5,250 per head.
Besides public officers, people registered on the national social security fund and the pension fund, all adults living in the region concerned will be covered.
Eligibility to benefit from the program remain the same: having a valid voter’s ID delivered after 2018, be registered for the program, and provide required documents.
Let it be recalled that around CFA12 billion has been disbursed so far under the program. Launched in April 2020, the Novissi cash transfer program has benefited more than 500,000 people.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
SEGUCE: Online payment is effective!
Online payment is now effective at the Société d’Exploitation du Guichet Unique pour le Commerce Extérieur (SEGUCE). This was reported last Tuesday to the PM Tomégah-Dogbé by SEGUCE's Director General, Olivier Lederer.
“We met the Prime Minister and submitted to her the annual report of the SEGUCE, discussed our achievements over the past years - especially those highly awaited by the public, such as only payment to obtain single-fee documents. Now, they can pay online via wire transfer and no more need to move physically from our windows to banks,” Lederer said.
Let’s note that the single window for external trade (GUCE) allows third parties involved in external trade and transport to submit all documentation required for import, export, transit and transhipping, at a single location. It also fosters transparency in all related processes.
Séna Akoda
Togo collected more tax revenues in 2020 than in 2019, despite the Covid-19 pandemic
Despite the pandemic, Togo generated more tax income last year than it did in 2019.
Though Lomé scaled down its forecast for 2020, due to Covid-19 and its pressure on the economy, the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) -in charge of collecting taxes- garnered CFA652 billion last year. This is 4.5% more than the amount collected the year before (CFA624 billion).
“We’ve managed to meet and even exceed our target,” says Philippe Tchodie, head of the OTR. The official is extremely pleased with the 108% achievement rate, in a context marked by a relative decline in economic activity and the numerous initiatives carried out by the government, in support of the private sector.
Regardless of the good tax performance recorded in 2020, this year should be one of cautious optimism. Authorities downscaled the forecast for 2021, according to sources close to the matter.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togolese government seeks a firm to monitor an upcoming street asphalting project in Lomé
The Ministry of Urban Planning, Housing, and Land Reform is recruiting a team to control and supervise the development, sanitation, and asphalting works on streets in Lomé. The roads concerned span a total of 14.34 km.
In detail, the works will be carried out on Boulevard Mobutu, 1,739 mi long, and Rue Maria Auxiliadora, 2,668 mi long, in Akodessewa, a neighborhood located in the suburb area, 8 km from the city center.
The deadline for recruitment is March 16, 2021, and the recruitment includes a prequalification phase where the six best applicants will be selected. After this phase, each of the six rivals will present their technical and financial proposals on a technical quality-cost ratio basis.
Séna Akoda
Government to survey the population to assess the satisfaction of CFE portal users
Projecting to update the website of the Business Formalities Center (CFE), Togolese authorities will carry out a public survey to assess if the platform meets users’ needs. The government thus seeks a firm capable of shouldering the project, collecting users’ opinions and suggestions to improve the digital platform.
The mission of the hired firm will also include developing interfaces needed to update the CFE’s database. This should also facilitate the online issue of the single business creation card, automated production of statistics, and statement publishing.
Let’s recall that the CFE website also serves as a channel for legal announcements, and a reliable registry of businesses created in Togo. It has helped reduce delays in launching businesses to less than seven (7) hours.
Séna Akoda
Meet Donaldson Nukunu Sackey, the Togolese footballer who launched his own cryptocurrency
Following a massive $ 1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, the price of this virtual currency recently surged above $50,000. This is a good time to introduce Donaldson Sackey, a Togolese international footballer, entrepreneur, stylist, and architect. Sackey, in his 30s, recently launched his cryptocurrency.
Why launch his cryptocurrency? What challenges surround cryptocurrencies, knowing that most central banks in the world, especially in Africa, are reluctant to adopt them?
Could cryptocurrencies be a curse or a threat to African economies? In this interview, the young Togolese entrepreneur gives his take on the matter.
Togo First: Who is Donaldson Nukunu Sackey?
Donaldson Nukunu Sackey: Donaldson Nukunu Sackey is an entrepreneur who owns several businesses in Europe and Africa. He is the CEO of Timeless Capital Technology.
He was also a Togolese international and professional footballer. Thanks to his work, he has appeared twice in Forbes magazine and once in Forbes 30 Under 30.
Togo First: You were a football player, a Togolese international. How did you go from being a footballer to launching your digital currency? What drove you towards fintech?
DNS: I believe that as we grow, we learn many things. Some of them may serve us later in our lives. I was always interested in technology. My father was a computer scientist and he influenced me a lot. At 12, when I had some spare time I would fix my classmates’ computers. Later, I attended business school, and alongside my football career, I started studying computer science at the University of Applied Sciences. I think we learn a lot in our life that we apply when the time comes. For me, launching a cryptocurrency that is dedicated to Togo is a service rendered to the country.
TF: Last September, you launched your cryptocurrency, the Timeless Capital Coin. What is the particularity of this new digital currency?
DNS: The Timeless Capital Coin is a cryptocurrency that is powered by an ecosystem of Blockchain-based tools and services, designed for entrepreneurs of developing countries in Africa and elsewhere. It allows entrepreneurs to convert cash into cryptocurrencies. This could be a blessing for African countries; it will help governments overcome the main barriers to development, such as high inflation, embezzlement, and corruption.
What is special about Timeless Capital is that it will have a physical cryptocurrency bank in the future. That way, customers will be able to convert their cryptocurrency to cash or buy it from Timeless Capital Cryptocurrency Bank. Our currency will be patronized by various businesses and will also be established as a means of payment.
We also plan to tackle social issues, particularly in Togo, by creating blockchain technology schools and programs.
TF: How valuable is the Timeless Capital Coin in the cryptocurrency market today?
DNS: The Timeless Capital Coin is currently worth $ 0.10 on the market, but we are working to increase its value to, at least, $ 1 in the next couple of years. Of course, you never know, it might even exceed our expectations.
TF: With Timeless Capital Coin, you can make the “African dream” a reality. How could this Blockchain-based currency help young African entrepreneurs, in particular Togolese, for whom access to finance is a real hassle?
DNS: Africa, which has one of the largest populations in the world, is still struggling to exploit its digital economy. There is no doubt that the potential is huge as more than half of the population is under 25. Our goal is to train this youth on cryptocurrency and allow them to learn about it.
A lot of people in Africa use more than one phone and don't have a bank account, so why not use this feature to create a platform with a banking system? This would allow entrepreneurs in Africa, including those in Togo, to harness their digital economy.
TF: About your cryptocurrency, you suggested it may be the blessing Africa needs to overcome problems like public fund embezzlement and corruption. What do you exactly mean by that?
DNS: If we're talking about a Blockchain system, it's not just cryptocurrency, it's more the technology behind it. Blockchain technology can enable people who are not connected to banking services to access resources that may have been inaccessible to them.
For example, people would have access to new ways to save money, pay their bills, etc. Others will be able to apply for loans, sell their products and services, and create their resources to conquer other niches in their communities, through decentralized Blockchain-based applications.
TF: The rise of cryptocurrencies in recent years has raised many concerns about cybercrime. In Togo, for example, several criminal groups have been dismantled. How can people protect themselves against cyber scammers in this context?
DNS: Timeless Capital greatly focuses on teaching Blockchain technologies. We are going to train people to easily identify scams. Such things happen when there is a lack of knowledge about cryptocurrency. We cannot blame the cryptocurrencies themselves, because scams happen everywhere.
TF: What is your vision of the African cryptocurrency and Blockchain market in the coming years?
DNS: Cryptocurrencies have been around for over a decade now, but what is driving Africa's crypto-renaissance today? This has to do with different factors, such as the ability of Africans, concerning finance, to implement modern technological changes. In Africa, the advanced technology sector has developed, and this is particularly true in sub-Saharan countries. Africa will be one of the strongest continents relative to the cryptocurrency market since digital currencies mean more freedom for many.
As a Togolese, I see a lot of potential for this country because cryptocurrency is not yet widespread in West Africa. If we look at mobile money companies like M-Pesa which has been operating since 2007 and now dominates the mobile money market, I think we should always be open to innovations at their early stages, instead of being latecomers.
Blockchain or cryptocurrency technology is Africa's future. It facilitates or improves digital infrastructure. Do we have to wait until it is well-established in Europe, the US, Asia before adopting it?
Togo shows outstanding economic performance on the 2018 and 2019 Budgets
Togo shows budget surplus results for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. This means its income exceeds its expenditures for those fiscal years.
Last Wednesday, at the Council of Ministers’ weekly meeting, the Togolese government confided that the good budget performances were attributable to regulations drafts (which assess, at each end of the fiscal year, the final amount of State expenditure and revenue).
The council of ministers in an official statement said it is pleased with the “outstanding economic performance of our country,” especially “despite the socio-political crisis in 2018.”
Indeed, in 2018, Togo faced some socio-political disturbances that affected State revenue (for example, a shortfall estimated by some experts at CFAF 50 billion in tax revenue, due to economic activities disruption). In the process, the country had used a supplementary budget to give itself an extension ... a rather common practice.
The 2019 budget bill was projected at CFA francs 1,461 billion in expenditure and revenue, against a forecast of CFA francs 1,310.9 billion in 2018, showing an increase of 11.5%. For the fiscal year 2021, Togo adopted a budget of more than CFA francs 1,521 billion, with strong social commitment, but slightly low compared to the fiscal year 2020, due to the ongoing health and economic crises induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: successful first issued bonds to support economic recovery
The latest bond issue of Togo on the WAEMU securities market was oversubscribed with investors raising CFA112.69 billion.
This was reported last Friday by the Umoa-Titres agency which arranged the operation. The latter, let’s recall, aimed at supporting Togo’s economy in its efforts to recover post-Covid.
The coverage rate for the issue was 563.48%. This is an astonishing performance considering that Lomé was only seeking CFA20 billion.
Out of the total mobilized, however, the treasury will retain CFA22 billion.
As a reminder, bonds issued will mature over five (5) years. The corresponding interest rate is 6.1% per annum.
Sena Akoda
CRRH-UEMOA, WAEMU’s best-rated institution by Moody's, after BOAD and AfDB
The Caisse Regionale de Refinancement Hypothecaire (CRRH-UEMOA), based in Lome, becomes the third best-rated financial institution by Moody's in the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The other institutions are the West African Development Bank ( BOAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Indeed, Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned the following first-time ratings to CRRH-UEMOA in 2020: Ba2 long-term corporate family rating (CFR), Ba2/Not Prime long and short-term local currency (LC) issuer ratings, as well as Ba3/Not Prime long and short-term foreign currency (FC) issuer ratings.
Moody's explains the CRRH-UEMOA ratings by the strong asset quality underpinned by conservative structuring of its lending, and its solid levels of capitalization with a TCE (tangible common equity) to tangible managed assets ratio (excluding subordinated debt) which stood at 7.6% as of December 2019 (7.0% as of December 2018).
With an assessment that places it in the "Non-investment grade speculative" category, the CRRH-UEMOA still has a way to go to reach the top of Moody's rating system (Prime or High-Grade Categories, from Aa3 to Aaa). It nevertheless has one of the best grades in the sub-region, with, for example, “only” 4 ratings below from the BOAD’s Baa1.
The institution wants to position itself with this grade as "one of the best institutions in the Area," especially since Moody's rating allows it to be viewed as "the best issuer rated in WAEMU after BOAD (Baa1-) and AfDB (AAA) .” The AfDB is by far one of the best-rated entities on the continent.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi