This year, Togo plans to restore 35,000 hectares of its forests. This breaks down into 10,000 ha for planting, 5000 ha of agroforests, and 20,000 ha of enriched forests. This was revealed last week by the minister of environment, David Wonou Oladokoun, in the framework of National Tree Day which is celebrated on June 1st. 

The government’s ambition falls under the reforestation and landscape restoration scheme which is implemented across all of the country’s prefectures, in convergence with other key schemes. 

The latter include the 2018-2021 national development plan, the strategic investment framework for the management of the environment and natural resources in Togo (CSIGERN 2018-2022); the national strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+); and finally the national reforestation program (2017-2021 PNR).

More than 5.7 million seedlings, all essences mixed, are currently available for the 2020 reforestation campaign. Out of these, the government supplied 580,200 seedlings and the private sector supplied 5,152,000 which are for sale. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

As part of the Kekeli Efficient Power project, a Siemens SGT-800 gas turbine is on its way to Lomé. 

The tool, which will initially help the thermal power plant generate 47 MW of electricity is shipped from Finspang, Sweden. It will at a later stage of the project be completed with an 18MW steam turbine. 

Siemens’ gas turbine is a combined cycle turbine designed for industrial power production. 

The Kekeli Efficient power plant, which is set to be Togo’s first combined cycle power plant, should help the country meet 30% of its demand in electricity (while reducing CO2 emissions). The facility is expected to come online by the end of this year. 

Séna Akoda

Since its creation in 1973, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) has supported more than 1,200 projects initiated by the WAEMU States and the private sector in the region. In the process, the bank has spent about €9 billion (more than XOF5,800 billion). 

In Togo alone, for example, the BOAD’s board has approved the construction of a 30 MWC photovoltaic power plant in Blitta, for an investment of XOF 7 billion. 

More recently, it injected XOF25 billion in the construction of the Kekeli Efficient Power combined-cycle thermal plant. Under the same project, the BOAD, alongside Oragroup, arranged the financing of the whole project; Totalling the sum of XOF65.4 billion, the funds were successfully secured from commercial and institutional lenders. 

In the past five years, the BOAD, according to its chairman, Christian Adovelande, “has secured from international investors over XOF1,400 billion (or €2.1 billion) in loans to finance its operations in its member States.”   

After adding climate issues and renewable energies to its investment priorities, the Bank was awarded the Investment Grade by rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch, a feat that should help it keep its partners’ trust. 

Séna Akoda

Air traffic volumes in the WAEMU fell drastically as a result of the various measures put in place to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the region. 

During a meeting held yesterday, between the Union’s ministers of transport, the president of WAEMU commission, Abdallah Boureima, revealed that air traffic volumes reduced by 95% exactly. 

This reduction, according to the ministers, caused a substantial loss in revenues for those working in the industry and exposed some companies to bankruptcy.

In Togo, due to the Covid-19 response, only cargo planes remain operational since they serve to transport sanitary equipment like respiratory equipment and masks. 

Regarding land transport, things are not much better. The closure of borders has immobilized transportation companies; the same goes for the maritime sector. 

Yesterday’s video conference, according to Boureima, was the occasion to “assess the pandemic’s impacts on transports, evaluate the respective responses of the Union’s States to contain it, as well as identify the sector’s needs once activity resumes.”  

Séna Akoda

Togo’s public debt may be less exposed to fluctuations in exchange rates, the country’s ministry of economy and finance said in its latest report for the quarter. 

This is mainly because the country’s debt is mostly (66.7%) labeled in CFA francs, the report indicates. 

However, “the external debt portfolio (which represents about 33% of Lomé’s total debt, ed. note) is still affected by fluctuations in some currencies.” Among the latter are the US Dollar (24.7% of external debt), the Chinese renminbi (21.8%), and special drawing rights (20.4%). 

The exposure of external debt is still mitigated by the fact that a significant portion of this debt is labeled in Euro (which has a fixed parity with the CFA). 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo will keep using Chloroquine in the Covid-19 treatment. This was disclosed last Wednesday by the national coordination team for the Covid-19 response. 

The announcement was made amid a controversy that arose following the publication of a study that claims the molecule is inefficient and even increases the chances of dying from the disease. 

The study, published in The Lancet has caused the WHO to stop clinical trials on Chloroquine. In Togo however, authorities prefer not to rush into conclusions. According to the head of the Covid-19 response coordination team, Col. Djibril Mohaman: “First, there is selection and interpretation bias.”

Other potential factors responsible for higher mortality rate in Chloroquine-treated group

While it is true that more patients treated with Chloroquine have died than those treated without, other possible factors might be responsible for the higher mortality rate, Mohaman said. Among these is the age of patients, medical history (obesity, heart diseases, diabetes, etc.). Some patients needed more oxygen as well (20% in the group treated with Chloroquine and 7% in the other group). 

“We have been taking Chloroquine for long and are very aware of its secondary effects. We will, therefore, continue using it here since we have nothing to lose.”

To date, Togo has confirmed 395 Covid-19 cases. Out of them, 183 have recovered and 13 deceased. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

In Togo, the National Federation of Cotton Farming Associations (FNGPC COOP-CA) acquired 50 tractors to boost farmers’ capacities and reach a cotton output of 200,000t by 2022. 

The move is good news for the sector which has recorded a 15% fall in output year-on-year (from the 2018-2019 campaign to last year’s). 

In line with its intent to mechanize the industry, the FNGPC COOP-CA is hiring 25 agricultural tractor drivers. Selected applicants will be deployed in all five economic regions of Togo; eight (8) in the Savanes, seven (7) in Kara, five (5) in the Central region, two (2) in the Plateaux, and three (3) in the Coastal region. 

Séna Akoda

The regional energy interconnection project, which is steered by the West African Energy Pool (WAPP), is expected to be completed in 2023. 

The 600 MW project costs $567 million and aims at supplying reliable, cheap electricity to the 14 of the 15 ECOWAS member States. It includes a rural component, which will be carried out in Burkina Faso and Niger, and another component under which coastal countries (Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire) should be connected. Apart from these, the project should run along the Ghana-Burkina Faso-Mali axis. 

The regional project is financed by Nigeria (0.9%), the French Development Agency (6%), the African Development Bank (20.5%), and the World Bank (72.6%).