Last week, on July 2, Togo and Gabon signed a memorandum of understanding to make it easier for the former to import wood products from the latter. The MoU was signed in Libreville, Gabon, by the Togolese Minister of forest resources and environment, Katari Foli-Bazi, and Gabon’s Minister of water and forest resources, Lee White.

The five-year agreement will mutually open up the countries’ wood industries and bolster cooperation regarding the sustainable management of the environment and forest resources. 

On the Gabonese side, the deal will enable businesses operating in the country’s wood industry to access the Togolese real estate market. As for Togo, it should take advantage of the opportunity to emulate Gabon’s forest conservation and protection models. 

“We are moving from a model of conservation of our forest resources to a model of protection, conservation, and exploitation. We want to learn from the Gabonese model to attract many investors in the timber sector and boost trade between our countries,” said the Togolese minister, Katari Foli-Bazi, after the agreement was signed.

Togo, let’s emphasize, has doubled down on efforts to protect its timber industry and preserve its vegetation cover which has been degraded in recent years. To this end, the government on May 12, 2021, prohibited the export of sawn and semi-sawn wood products.

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New irrigation systems and superstructures will be built in about 50 planned agricultural development zones (ZAAP), spread across 13 prefectures of Northern Togo. Related construction works should be completed within six months.     

In line with the project, the Togolese ministry of agriculture and development recently launched a tender, closing on July 30, 2021, to select skilled contractors to carry out the works. The tender notice was issued in the local newspaper, Togo Presse, on July 5, 2021. 

The ZAAPs, it should be noted, was established a few years back to help farmers grow as cooperatives, but also boost their productivity and yields. With ‘agropoles’, they are structural pillars of Togolese agriculture. 

Klétus Situ

Nearly 79% of Togolese citizens say there are good opportunities to start a business in the region where they live. The figure is from the 2020-2021 report of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), an international research center that studies entrepreneurial activity in several countries, worldwide. 

The ages of the sample population of Togolese citizens covered by the study range from 18 to 64 years. The survey was carried out on site by the National Coalition for Youth Employment (CNEJ) and the Centre autonome d'études et de renforcement des capacités pour le développement au Togo (CADERDT).

In detail, around 60% of Togolese citizens believe it’s easy to start a business in Togo and 69% claim they know someone who recently started their business. Meanwhile, around 92% of the surveyed are confident they have the skills needed to start and run a business - this is the highest rate among the 43 countries featured in the report. However, only 48% of them plan to take the plunge in the next few months; against 44% who are hesitant to follow the entrepreneurial path. 

Asked about the pandemic’s impact on entrepreneurship in Togo, about 90% of the respondents said it has brought down household income and dimmed Togolese’s entrepreneurial spirit. In detail, over 50% of the respondents said the health crisis forced entrepreneurs to cease all activities, while 27% of them affirmed they know someone who took advantage of the pandemic to launch their business.

Klétus Situ

Lomé’s Court of Appeal sanctioned, last Monday, nine pirates with heavy jail sentences and fines. The culprits were brought to justice for trying to hijack - on the night of May 11-12, 2019 - the G-Dona 1 tanker, a Togo-flagged vessel owned by a Beninese shipowner.

The crew’s leader - a Nigerian named Peter Paul - received a 15- year sentence, a five-year entry ban in Togo, and a CFA 50 million fine. 

Six other members who took part in the attempted hijacking were each sentenced to 12 years in jail. In addition, the non-Togolese among them received a five-year entry ban in the country while the Togolese were deprived of their civil rights. The six of them also have to pay a CFA 25 million fine, each, for damages caused. 

One of the pirates, a Ghanaian, still at large, was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison and a CFA 50 million fine. The last of the nine pirates, a Togolese, was acquitted.  

As this trial affirms, Togo remains committed to curbing maritime insecurity - an objective which had led its government to hold, in October 2016, an African summit on maritime security, safety, and development.

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For the second consecutive year, Togo meets the US requirements relative to budget transparency. This was disclosed in the US Department of State's latest Fiscal Transparency Report. The latter assessed fiscal transparency in over 140 countries, throughout 2020. 

The West African has, over the period reviewed, made available to the public all information related to its budget, forecast details, revenues and expenditures. 

It has also been transparent regarding tender processes and signed contracts for exploiting natural resources. 

Togo has been making efforts to publish information relevant to operating permits and licenses awarded by the government. These reforms, however, are struggling to be implemented, at least according to several civil society organizations. 

The Fiscal Transparency report is published every year and covers countries that get aid from the US. “It helps,” the US Department of State says, " to ensure that US taxpayer funds are used appropriately."

With this new ranking, Togo, which has met the three eligibility criteria for the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) Compact for five (5) consecutive years, is “theoretically” getting closer and closer to the U.S. funding program. Two years ago, let’s recall, it gained access to the MCC Threshold program.

Togo lost at least $3.9 billion between 2008 and 2017 due to trade misinvoicing. The figure is disclosed in a report recently published by Global Trade Integrity. 

The American NGO said that on average Togo lost about $361 million or 30% of its total trade, per year, with the 36 advanced economies in the world, over 2008-2017. This makes it the second developing country worldwide, after Gambia (whose average is 37% per year), to have lost the most over the period.  

The administration of Pfizer vaccines, 100,000 doses of which Togo received last month, will begin tomorrow, July 7, and end on July 22, 2021. 

Set to take place in two phases, the vaccination campaign will cover only the Grand Lomé area. In the first phase, going from July 7 to 14, people of 50 years and more will be vaccinated. In the second, which will start on July 15 and end on July 22, those aged 20 years old and above will receive the vaccine. 

The campaign is in line with the government’s ambition to achieve collective immunity and halt infection. 

“Registration process is the same,” said the government while urging “those concerned to go get their first dose in the nearest health center.”

It should be noted that the country recently carried out a campaign to administer AstraZeneca vaccines. More than 300,000 people were vaccinated during the campaign, according to the Togolese authorities.  

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A total of 7,311 new businesses were registered in Togo during the first half of this year. The figure was released on July 2 by the Business Formality Center (CFE). This is up by 21% compared to the number recorded in H1 2020. 

In detail, 60.83% of the businesses registered (4,447) were owned by natural persons, while the remaining 39.17% or 2,864 were held by legal persons. 

The data also reveals that 5,375 of these businesses were launched by men, against 1,936 by women. A majority of the businesses, 82.2% exactly, were owned by Togolese, and the remaining 17.18% by foreigners.

It’s worth noting that last month alone 1,184 businesses were registered at the CFE - 732 by natural persons and 452 by legal persons. 

Number of businesses registered in Togo from January to June 2021 / Source: CFE 

According to Togolese authorities, the increase recorded is attributable to several reforms introduced by the government in recent years to improve the country’s business climate. These include reducing the time needed to register a business, canceling the fees previously demanded to publish legal notices, and dematerializing registration procedures.  

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic that hit Togo in 2020, and the resulting health crisis, 12,529 businesses were formally established; that is 9% more than in 2019 where 11,482 businesses were registered. 

Esaïe Edoh