Founder of AD Kontact, Alain HOUNTONDJI was born on August 20, 1968, in Cotonou, in a modest family. A brilliant student, he pursued part of his studies in France where he obtained a degree in microeconomics and management at the University Panthéon Sorbonne (Paris I). In 1997, he joined SFR's customer management team. After spending four years at the French company, he joined Aviva, a CAC 40 company, where he was customer service manager. His last place of work as an employee was Zain where he worked only three years.

Determined to start his own business, Alain HOUNTONDJI launched AD Kontact, a customer relations firm based in Africa. His firm supports businesses in Africa by managing their customer relations and providing remote contract sales services. It focuses on African youth and mainly hires locals. In 2011, HOUNTONDJI handled the outsourcing of Airtel's call centers to Spanco in six African countries.

Abdellah TABHIRET holds a graduate degree in regional and business economics and has been the managing director of Moov Togo since 2016. With more than 25 years of experience in the field of telecommunications, he has also worked at Maroc Telecom and Scarlet.

He owns the Abdallah vehicle fleet which is one of the major places where used cars are sold in Lomé. As such, Abdallah TEFRIJ is a key player at the autonomous port of Lomé. He has many other businesses, notably AGIRIS, a security firm.

This seasoned electrical engineer completed all his education in Togo (with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the National School of Engineering Sciences (ENSI) at the University of Lomé. He heads, since 2018, the country's power regulatory authority (ARSE) and oversees the expansion of clean energy production.

He is therefore a key player in Togo's energy development strategy. The latter aims to raise to 50% the share of renewables in the energy mix, and subsequently position the country as a pioneer in the African renewable energy market, by 2030.

Etsri Homevor is the new director of the cabinet of the Togolese Prime Minister’s office. 

He officially took over from his predecessor, Pré Simféitchéou, on November 2, 2020. 

Before his recent appointment, Homevor was the secretary-general of the ministry of planning.

Thierry Awesso is the new president of Nioto, the Togolese subsidiary of Geocoton, and one of the biggest factories located in the country’s free trade area. 

Awesso, who until now was Nioto’s managing director, was appointed president by the board of Geocoton on October 23, 2020. This was during a board meeting held in Paris. 

One of the main figures of the Togolese economy and the n°2 of the country’s employers’ association will continue holding the position of managing director. 

Nioto makes cooking oils - some using oleaginous grains (cotton, soy, shea nuts) - and shea butter. 

Séna Akoda

Lomé-based pan-African banking conglomerate Ecobank is one of the winners of 2020 Speak Up Africa Awards. Awarded by Speak Up Africa, an advocacy and policy action tank, the prize celebrates “individuals and organizations that demonstrate exemplary leadership and bring a positive impact through their work and initiatives.”

Ecobank received the award for its commitment to fighting malaria. Indeed, in July 2020, the group launched the Zero Malaria Business Leadership Initiative, in partnership with the African Union Commission (and Speak Up Africa). 

The lender is leading private sector organizations to fight malaria, getting support, and financing from various actors all over the African continent.

This year, Speak Up Africa celebrated public health leaders in Africa. Besides Ecobank, four organizations, and individuals, including the President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou, and Freetown’s mayor, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE, received the award.

In Togo, Maison Junior plans to train 15 young Togolese in audiovisual writing. In this framework, the association which provides such training in many African countries has partnered with Yobo Studios. 

The two partners have launched a call for applications to give a 10-month training on writing for animated series, fiction, and TV magazines. 

The fifteen young Togolese who will be picked will work on projects for well-known broadcasters like Gulli, Canal +, and TV5Monde. Besides boosting the creative skills of trainees, the project also aims to identify young talents in this field.

Maison Junior collaborates with the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. 

Interested persons have until November 6 to submit their application. 

Servan Ahougnon

The National Agency for the Promotion and Guarantee of Financing to SME and SMIs (ANPGF), the Artisans Savings and Loans Cooperative (CECA), and Togo’s General Society of Windmills (SGMT) sealed last week a partnership to launch a credit line for bread makers in Togo. 

With this facility, bakers will be able to get loans at favorable rates, enabling them to purchase modern equipment and the ingredients they need. According to the ANPGF, they will also benefit from technical support and training sessions. 

In fine, the three partners aim to boost Togo’s bread production and speed up the professionalization of the sector’s actors. 

Séna Akoda

Due to a Covid-19 outbreak, the West Africa Cement plant has shut down for two weeks. 

“On October 30, 2020, the national coordinator in charge of the response against Covid-19 informed me about an outbreak at the WACEM, a company located in the free trade zone,” reads an official note from the minister of trade and industry. 

The closure is to prevent the virus from spreading among the factory’s workers and the people of Tagbligbo (80 km from Lomé, in the Yoto prefecture) where it is located. During the shutdown, authorities will identify and take care of infected individuals, to prevent the outbreak from spreading. 

The new outbreak in this part of the country indicates a return of the virus in the interior part of the country. Indeed, until now, besides the Grand Lomé region, most outbreaks were under control, according to the national coordination fighting Covid-19 in Togo. 

To date, the country has 624 active cases, 1676 recoveries, and 57 deaths (2,357 in total). 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi