The World Bank disbursed 37% of the funds it planned to provide Togo in the previous fiscal year (July 2019-June 2020). 

This is “one of the best disbursement rates relating to the portfolio of projects financed by the Bank in Africa, where the average is 22%,” said the WB’s resident representative, Hawa Cissé Wagué last Tuesday. 

Wagué however stressed that the disbursement rate should be increased considering populations’ ever-growing needs. We know we can do more because populations’ needs keep increasing and there are available resources. 

For his part, Sani Yaya recalled the Bank’s commitment to helping Togo “put in place conditions that induce an inclusive and sustainable growth, driven by a more dynamic private sector and more efficient investment policies.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Bretton Woods institution has injected CFA50 billion in three projects - one in the health sector, another in education, and the last in economic reforms. Overall, the country’s disbursements in the country so far amount to $400 million. 

Séna Akoda

In Togo, nearly two million hectares of land were analyzed to draw a soil fertility map. The latter is aimed at enabling farmers to be better informed about the composition of their land. The information was disclosed last Wednesday during the council of ministers. 

This map will help farmers plant crops and use a fertilizer that matches the composition of their land. 

Out of the total areas analyzed, around 1.2 million ha have been mapped. This represents 33.18% of Togo’s arable lands. 

The mapping project was launched three years ago and “should help not only boost crop yields and productivity but also draw a crop map, in line with the second axis of the government’s roadmap for the 2025 Togo Plan.” 

Visit the platform dedicated to the project here.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

In 2019, Togocel and Moov generated CFA159.5 billion of revenues. The figure, up by 9 billion (+6%) compared to 2018, was disclosed in a report published by Togo’s telecom regulator (ARCEP) entitled Evolution of Regulated Markets: Posts and Digital Communications.

In detail, Togocel’s activity in the mobile service segment was bolstered last year (+10%) while Moov stagnated (+0.1%).

With more than CFA100 billion of turnover in 2019 (63% of the market value for mobile), Togocel, a subsidiary of Togocom, remains the leader in terms of mobile services. Meanwhile, Moov, its rival, lost speed and controlled only 37% of the market. According to ARCEP, Moov lost 400,000 users (or 11% of its user pool) in 2019. This is mainly due to the regulator’s order to deactivate and reattribute all inactive numbers. On the other side, Togocel’s user pool grew by 17% in 2019, thus pushing the operator ahead of its rival which was leading in this regard in 2018. 

Let’s recall that recently the two operators were warned by the ARCEP for unfair practices of making their on-network call-tariffs cheaper than off-network tariffs. 

Séna Akoda

Last Tuesday, ECOWAS experts and deputies commenced a five-day meeting to promote e-learning in the region. 

The theme of the event is “ECOWAS in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond: Focusing on Information and Communication Technology for the Promotion of Distance Education and Training in the Member States.”

In effect, the event is focused on bolstering internet access and leveraging technology and energy resources to promote e-learning, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“As we all know, Covid-19 caused significant damages to our States, in the education sector especially,” said Sidie Mohamed Tunis, president of the ECOWAS parliament. The meeting is thus an opportunity to “think of a way to develop e-learning during the pandemic and beyond.”

 Present at the five-day meeting which started last Tuesday were actors from the following sectors: education, ICTs, political affairs, human rights, infrastructures, and NEPAD representatives.

Fifty (50) micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) active in Togo will receive $350,000 to face the severe impacts of the Covid-19. 

The funds, partly a subsidy and partly a loan with flexible reimbursement terms, will be spent on the pilot stage of the Emergency Aid Fund for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Togo. The latter is a project launched last week by the UNDP’s branch in Togo, in partnership with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). It is aimed at mitigating the negative impacts of Covid-19 on MSMEs.

The pilot phase will be implemented for over six years. “We hope to have very conclusive results within the next six months. This will allow us to move into a much broader phase and mobilize more resources to enable Togolese companies to play their part in the development of the national economy,” said Mactar Fall, deputy country representative of the UNDP, in the presence of representatives of the project’s partners in the country.

Séna Akoda

Started last June, the Lomé-Kpamé national road (RN5) modernization works are 15% complete, for 14.5% of the set time for completion. The news was disclosed by EBOMAF, the West African construction giant in charge of the project.

“The work has been slowed down greatly, but we are managing,” said EBOMAF’s CEO, Mahamadou Bonkoungou. He stressed that he is personally engaged in the project, to ensure that the best quality is delivered. 

The works, which are set to be completed in 36 months, were assessed during a field visit by Prime Minister Victoire Tomegah Dogbé. On this occasion, she said the works could be completed before the deadline, looking at the progress made and the technical equipment mobilized.

In effect, the undergoing project aims at reinforcing and rehabilitating the 120 km-long roads for CFA195 billion (excluding tax). In addition to this amount, there is CFA19 billion to rehabilitate roads and utilities in Kpalimé. 

Around 3,000 young Togolese are working on the project. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Living poultry, their derivatives, and poultry feed from Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Holland, UK, and Russia have been banned from entering Togo. The measure which took effect on November 16, 2020, was announced by the Togolese minister of agriculture, Antoine Lékpa-Gbégbéni. 

The official explained that an outbreak of influenza has been raging for several weeks in the six countries. He then urged feed sellers and farmers to strictly abide by the biosafety measures imposed, especially at borders, in markets, and on breeding farms to prevent the spread of the threat. 

The preventive measure reminds of two influenza outbreaks recorded a little over a decade ago, which caused the slaughter of several thousands of birds.

On November 12, 2020, Togo’s telecom regulator, ARCEP, warned the country’s two mobile operators, Togo Cellulaire (Togocel) and Atlantique Telecom Togo (Moov) over practices impeding competition. 

The two operators are accused of making on-net calls less expensive than off-net calls. The move, which could potentially discourage users of one network from calling those of the rivaling network, “violates the clauses of their specifications, and is seriously detrimental to fair and healthy competition in the sector.”

The companies were given 8 days since the warning was issued to regularise their situation. Otherwise, “a formal sanction procedure could be initiated against them.”

It is worth noting that the parent company of Moov-Togo lost half of its national call termination volumes in the first semester of this year. Called “interconnection tariff,” this termination is the fee charged to users from a network for a minute of communication with users from another network. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A year after the adoption of the leasing bill and the creation of African Lease Togo, leasing operations in the country are still struggling to take off.

This, according to the Managing Director of African Lease Togo, Toussaint Sossou, is due to the lack of awareness about this banking product.

Toussaint Sossou, MD African Lease Togo

In the period concerned, the country’s potential for leasing was estimated at CFA116 billion, data from the National Transport Office shows.

Sossou further indicated, regarding the WAEMU, that “the market is ripe for investment, especially in the sectors of agriculture, infrastructure, medical equipment, and renewable energies.”

Séna Akoda