Togo Invest (TI) will take part in the large-scale mining (a 20-year renewable license) of the Ledjoblibo clay deposit in the Dankpen district (about 90 km from Kara, which is 420 km north of Lomé). 

The State holding was urged to join the project by the minister of mines who believes this will improve its governance. 

According to studies conducted so far, the deposit is of very good quality, with estimated reserves of 11,074,000 m3 or 18,825,800 t of clay. The deposit’s output will serve to make bricks and tiles. 

“The project,”  TI noted, “aligns with the strategic goals of the national development plan (covering the 2018-2022 period) and falls under its second axis which aims at developing processing hubs in agriculture, manufacturing, and extractive industries.” Moreover, it is “a densification project in the context of the development of the South-North corridor aimed at creating poles of economic activity and producing goods for the future rail corridor.”

Séna Akoda

Fourteen businesses, owned by women and youths, will compete to land a deal with the General Directorate of Public Works (DGTP).

The contract covers technical studies for the rehabilitation or construction of some offices of the regional directorates of public works, sectors, and the rural roads directorate.

The firm selected will also take care of preparing the tender document for the works in question. Entrepreneurs interested have until November 3, 2020, to apply. 

The DGPT’s initiative aligns with the President’s decision to set aside 25% of public procurement to youths and female entrepreneurs. 

Séna Akoda

Within the next two years, the government plans to build at least 20,000 social housing units. 

The project, which is part of Togo’s urbanization plan (and the national development plan), was recalled by the new minister of housing, Koffi Tsolenyanu, on World Habitat Day. 

The theme of the event for this year is “Housing for all and improving the urban environment.” 

On the same occasion, the minister exposed some measures taken by Togo to provide decent housing and improve the urban setting, taking into consideration current issues.

Among various steps Togo took in this regard is the creation of the special fund for habitat development, a special fund for housing development (FSDH), and adoption of laws regulating the following professions: architects, urbanists, surveyors, engineers, and real estate actors. 

It is worth noting that since 2005 more than 20,000 social housing units have been built in Togo.

Edem Kokou Tengue is the new Minister of Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection in Togo.

The announcement was made on Thursday by the Secretary-General of the Presidency, Sandra Johnson. Edem Tengue, who was until his appointment the Managing Director of the Togolese branch of Danish integrated shipping company Maersk, joins a new government focused on the national development plan (PND) - a government led by Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé (who was appointed Prime Minister a few days ago, the first woman to ever hold the title in Togo)

A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, the University of Birmingham, the prestigious Imperial College of London, and Harvard Business School, Tengue is an expert in the maritime ecosystem. After he was trained from 2003 to 2005 in Copenhagen by the Maersk Group, he became the assistant to the CFO of the Group's Regional Office, which covers all of Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland) and the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania).

Next, Edem Tengue was sent home to take over the financial management of Maersk’s three companies: Maersk Togo S.A., Damco Togo S.A., and Lomé Terminal service. At the time, the group was running to take over handling activities at the Port of Lomé. 

In 2017, Tengue - also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - was one of the 20 Young Leaders of the French African foundation. The following year, Choiseul named him among the Young Economic Leaders for Tomorrow, a select ranking that included personalities such as French President Emmanuel Macron.

Though he was elected deputy in the HAHO electoral district during the legislative elections of December 20, 2018, he preferred business to politics, a path he can no longer avoid. 

Last year, he became the president of the Professional Association of Shipping and Vessel Consignment Companies of Togo (NAVI-TOGO).

At his new position, the 40-year old’s main mission consists of advancing Togo’s national development plan. The latter mainly aims to make the country a first-class logistics hub in the subregion, by leveraging the assets of the Port Autonomy of Lomé.

Challenges that the former Maersk executive will face include water security issues (notably tackling maritime piracy), providing professional training locally, consolidating the regional position of Lomé’s port and its contribution to the national budget. To these add the old issue of cabotage in the Gulf of Guinea.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Togo Invest (TI) recently started elaborating on its 2021-2025 strategic plan. The document should allow the state holding to easily carry out its various projects, as well as guarantee and investment operations. 

Additionally, it “will help develop innovative and sustainable solutions to identify financing resources, attract more investments with great socio-economic impact and consolidate its strategic positioning.”

This way, the government can meet its objectives in terms of socio-economic development, using funds mobilized via Togo Invest’s preferred financing modes and vehicles. 

Let’s recall that TI launched Kifema Capital, an innovative investment vehicle, to regroup Togolese investors (in the country and the diaspora) who wish to be part of projects under the national development plan (PND). Kifema Capital is engaged in the Kekeli Efficient Power Project. 

Besides Kifema Capital, Togo Invest also participates in the CDT Lomé-Cinkassé project, a dry port project, a special economic zone, and a multipurpose logistics platform - projects that are all led by the government.

Séna Akoda

Economic growth in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) should stand at 1.3% in 2020, thus 5 percentage points down from 6.1% in 2019. 

According to the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO), the new forecast is better than what was expected considering the impact of Covid-19 on economies in the region. 

In the WAEMU, “GDP slumped by 2% in the second quarter of 2020 against an increase of 3.2% in the same period the year before,” the BCEAO observed at its third ordinary meeting.

The decrease was “mainly driven by the tertiary and secondary sectors whose added values fell by 3.4% and 3.6% respectively in Q2 2020.”   

Meanwhile, the primary sector (agriculture notably) has been quite resilient in the past six months and this could partly explain the resilience of WAEMU economies amid the current crisis. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

After recording outstanding performances throughout the past three quarters, Togo plans to raise CFA60 billion on the WAEMU securities market this quarter. 

To this end, the country will issue fungible treasury bonds and bills - for CFA40 billion and CFA20 billion respectively. In detail, two issues of fungible treasury bonds, with respective targets of 25 billion and 15 billion, are scheduled for October 23 and November 13. The last issue for the quarter, fungible Treasury bills, is scheduled for November 27. 

Togo's projected resources for the period under review represent a little more than 7% of the WAEMU's total of CFAF818 billion.

Sèna Akoda

Mila Aziable, 29, is the new Minister Delegate to the President of the Republic, in charge of Energy and Mines. 

She thus leaves her position as a gas operations engineer at GRTGaz, a subsidiary of ENGIE which is the world’s third-largest power developer, to become Togo’s youngest minister. Aziable replaces Marc Ably Bidamon who had been holding the seat since 2015. 

After graduating from high school in Lomé with a C4 Baccalaureate, she enrolled in the national school of engineering at the University of Lomé (ENSI) where she obtained a scholarship to study in France at the national engineering school of Metz (ENIM). 

In 2012, after getting an engineering degree at ENIM, she specialized in engineering and gas management at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris. 

In 2018, she was admitted to Sciences Po where she secured an executive master’s degree in development and management policies - A turning point in the youth’s career. 

As minister delegate in charge of energy and mines, Mila Aziablé’s main mission will be to advance the goals of national electrification strategy relative to clean energies, as well as carry out key power projects. This is in a context where Togo’s electrification rate is around 50%, with disproportionalities in localities.