After recently becoming partners, Togo Invest and UNDP Togo are working to submit a $50 million project to the Green Climate Fund.

In effect, UNDP Togo will include Togo Invest in the project since it was already elaborating on it. “We are working with Togo Invest and other institutions to develop this project,” the UN body said. 

The project, it should be emphasized, aligns with the key axes of the partnership recently reached by Togo Invest and the UNDP. 

Under this partnership, the two institutions will reinforce the corporate social responsibility of businesses and work on boosting environmental sustainability. Lastly, they will preserve the environment and achievements in Togolese societies. 

Let’s recall that the UNDP pays consultants to evaluate various potentialities in Togo. Support in this area will also be boosted to enable Togo to Invest to better target its actions as part of the vision for the development of Togo. 

Séna Akoda

With 9 other African presidents, Togo’s leader Faure Gnassingbé called for a greater financial mobilization for projects carried out by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

In a co-signed letter, the heads of state made the call to make rural communities more dynamic and subsequently protect them against poverty and famine. 

“Now more than ever, it is crucial to invest in the reinforcement of the resilience of rural people, to ensure food security, preserve their livelihoods, make sure that the progress we achieved over the years is not brought to naught and prevent other residents of rural areas from falling into poverty and hunger,” the leaders highlighted.

It should be noted that in Togo, the IFAD, among others, funds the risk-sharing based incentive mechanism for agricultural financing (ProMIFA) and the national project for the promotion of rural entrepreneurship (PNPER).

Séna Akoda

In July 2020, the overall performance of commercial services in Togo grew by 8.8%, driven by sales and business operations. 

Right behind the country are Ivory Coast (+2.9%) and Guinea (+0.5%), according to data by the Banque centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO). The three countries, over the period concerned, were the only ones to have recorded a positive performance. 

In Mali, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Benin, turnovers of businesses operating in the services sector fell by 11.8%, 5.9%, 3%, and 0.4% respectively. 

Overall, this figure slumped by 2% in July 2020, thus 5 percentage points less than the figure recorded the same month last year (+3%), despite a recovery of non-finance services. 

In general, the retail turnover index was up by 6.8% in July 2020, but less impressive than the month before (+11.5%). According to the BCEAO, the upward trend is attributable to better sales of food products (in Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast), housing equipment (in all WAEMU countries apart from Niger and Senegal), and new cars ( in Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Togo).

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A successful entrepreneur and one of the key economic players in Togo, Ghislain Awaga intends this quarter to venture into the private equity business. 

Via his company Global Trade Corporation (GTC), which specializes in stock speculation and is present in around 20 African countries, the entrepreneur wants to support or buy out firms struggling to grow or are going through a cession or adjustment. 

Also, Awaga has started building about 100 housing units and plans to launch agribusiness activities; producing and processing soybeans as well as making essential oils with ginger. 

Part of the operations will be financed with equity. 

Séna Akoda

The new soybean commercialization campaign was just launched and it will close in July 2021. 

In the previous season, soy exports generated nearly FCFA50 billion, a figure the interprofessional soybean council aims to exceed. It plans to do so by better tracking revenues generated, and subsequently, transparency while purchasing for export. 

In parallel, the body also wants to increase the country’s output. The latter stood at 176,100 t (organic and non-organic) in the 2019-2020 campaign. 

It’s worth noting that the soybean sector is booming in Togo and the country is even the leading exporter of organic soy to the EU. Regarding job creation, during the previous season, hundreds of thousands of jobs (temporary and permanent) were created in the sector. 

Séna Akoda

In Togo, the 2020-2021 academic year will resume in two stages. The first - the administrative and pedagogic resumption - will cover the week from October 26 to 30, and the second or effective resumption will begin on November 2. 

The next academic year will start with many challenges, related to the Covid-19 notably, the same as the previous academic year. 

Regular monitoring of the health situation in schools and universities will be compulsory for adaptation purposes and a successful academic year, said ministers of education Dodzi Kokoroko and Eké Hodin. 

Ahead of the resumption, the national council for the fight against Covid-19 is elaborating on a health protocol. Various suggestions such as alternated classes or holding classes 6 days a week, are mentioned in the framework of the protocol.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

On the world food day, the FAO inaugurated an exhibition hall in Lomé to display fresh agricultural products.

Located near the headquarters of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), this hall will help boost the visibility of "made in Togo" products, especially fruits and vegetables (mangoes, cabbage, pepper, cucumber, etc.)

"The vitrine for food products benefits farmers, especially those growing organic products, spices, as well as goods processed and preserved in line with health and safety standards," said the new Minister of agriculture, Antoine Lekpa Gbégbéni.

Let’s note that a similar hall was opened in the country three years ago. Also, the government announced that this month, it would release a national strategy aimed at promoting local products.

Last Tuesday, the World Bank approved a $12 billion aid plan to enable developing countries to purchase and distribute potential COVID-19 vaccines. 

In effect, the money should be used by the countries to “finance the purchase and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments for their citizens.” 

According to David Malpass, who heads the institution, this is the technical support that should allow beneficiaries to distribute “safe and efficient” vaccines on a large scale. 

While the funds will undoubtedly be helpful to many countries, some observers question their pertinence in sub-Saharan Africa given that the pandemic’s impact in this region is minimal compared to others. Africa is indeed the least affected by the virus so far.  

It should be highlighted that vaccines should, according to WHO, not be available on a large scale before mid-2021. At the moment, only one vaccine (Russia’s Sputnik V) has been officially approved and seven others are in the last phase of testing.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi