From 600 tons in 2012, fish production at the Nangbéto Lake has risen to 3,200 tons in 2019. 

The significant increase is attributable to the Nangbéto Lake Fisheries Management Plan which falls under the Agricultural Support Project (PASA). 

Adopted in 2013, this plan aims at preventing the exhaustion of fish resources in the lake concerned, due to its inappropriate exploitation mainly. Besides, according to the office for fisheries and aquaculture, it helped improve living standards of communities living near the Lake and reinforced the legal-institutional framework regulating fishing. 

For the sector’s actors, the plan should consolidate existing achievements, by improving co-management and monitoring fish processing and sales.

Let’s recall that more than 22,000 people work in Togo’s fishery sector. The latter contributes nearly 4.5% of GDP for a yearly output of about 25,000 tons.

Last week, the KYA-Energy Group delivered ten automated solar-powered handwashing kits to the ECOWAS Investment and Development Bank (BIDC) in Lomé.

Called KYA-SolWasherKit, the tools were made by a local solar power startup, Kya Energy Group. They are equipped with presence detectors, automatic soap, and water suppliers. 

The move is the startup’s contribution to the fight against the coronavirus. 

Under the CIZO rural power project (funded by the African Development Bank -AfDB), Kya-Energy is teaching 3,000 solar (off-grid) technicians how to set up and maintain the kits, in rural and suburban areas especially.

By June 5, Togo will attempt raising XOF20 billion on the WAEMU stock market. The money will be used by Lomé to finance its 2020 budget. 

The funds should be raised by issuing fungible treasury bonds, at a nominal value of XOF1 million per unit, and a one-year maturity period. The bonds will start taking value on June 8 and reimbursement will commence on June 6, 2021. 

Séna Akoda

Togo’s ministry of culture, tourism, and leisure will rehabilitate the Kara hotel in the northern part of the country. 

Rehabilitation works, which were divided into three parts will be financed by the Fund for the Promotion and Development of Tourism (FPDT). 

In line with this project, the ministry of tourism has launched a tender which closes on June 11, 2020. Bidders can apply for the three parts of the project but selected applicants will not be attributed more than a part. 

New firms that are able to provide their financial statements for the past three years, will benefit from better conditions and can present any other relevant document attesting to their financial capacities.  

The rehabilitation of the Kara hotel, let’s emphasize, is part of a larger program the government is carrying out to give a new breath to hotels across the country and subsequently boost tourism.

Séna Akoda

The UN development program’s office in Togo plans to set 6,894 solar light poles in the Maritime, Plateaux, Central, Kara, and Savanes regions. 

The project will accelerate the country’s national electrification strategy and help get it closer to its goal of making renewables 50% of its energy mix by 2030. 

In this framework, UNDP-Togo has launched a pre-qualification bid to select local consultants who are specialized in technical electricity, renewable energy, or solar technology. The hired consultant will be in charge of steering and monitoring the works. Applicants can submit their bids to the UNDP via mail.

To contain the spread of the coronavirus, Togolese authorities plan to test more people and actively monitor suspected cases. 

The information was recently given by the national coordination team for the Covid-19 response. According to the latter, Lomé’s strategy revolves around testing suspects, quarantining and treating them, and finally tracking them. 

In line with this strategy, which is recommended by the World Health Organization, mobile labs were deployed in various prefectures, such as Dapaong, Sokodé, and Atakpamé. 

Another policy announced by Lomé is to systematically test chief districts that have passed the threshold of 10 cases set by the coordinating team. This, according to the head of the team, Col. Djibril Mohaman, has already been done in Kouvon, a village located in the Tchaoudjo prefecture. As a result, no new case has been recorded there since then. 

With about 15,000 tests conducted so far, Togo is currently one of the leading countries in this regard, both across the region and the continent. To date, the nation has confirmed 386 Covid-19 cases, 161 recoveries, and 13 deaths. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Last week, the Nunya Lab incubator trained around 460 local artisans to make efficient face masks. 

The goal of the lab is to produce one million, washable and reusable masks. This output, which will be subsidized, should be made available to the Togolese population, protecting more against the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In the framework of the training, the incubator partnered with the ministry of grassroots development, the Fund supporting youth-led business initiatives (FAIEJ), UNDP-Togo, the National Health Insurance Institute (INAM), and the Union des Chambres Régionales de Métiers du Togo (UCRM). 

Let’s recall very recently also, INAM and FAIEJ teamed up to train seamstresses so they can make quality masks. 

Ecobank Group and Google are teaming up to help African SMEs keep pace in a fast-growing digital world. The partners announced they will develop a range of digital solutions that aim to make banking operations easier for customers. The packages will be available to Ecobank’s SME customers in May 2020.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Google to offer timely and relevant solutions, including Google My Business and Google Ad products. These are specifically tailored to meet the needs of our SME customers,” said Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Ecobank’s Group Executive for Commercial.

“We are focused on helping them (SMEs, ed) thrive by adopting technology, which is becoming increasingly essential for the survival of businesses today,” she added.

Ecobank says the aim is to support African businesses so that they remain relevant in the markets and realize their potential through the adoption of digital solutions, especially in the difficult context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The agricultural processing areas that the Togolese government plans to set up, mainly through the creation of agropoles, will be developed through public-private partnerships (PPP). The elaboration of this strategy, as well as the instruments and incentives for its implementation, will be entrusted to a firm, to be selected by the government.

This firm will be responsible for proposing incentive measures as well as the necessary legal and regulatory framework; and a strategy with concrete models for PPPs between existing (or to be created) institutional entities and the private sector. It will also ensure that the conditions for the success of these partnerships are in place.

Moreover, the company will draw up a document presenting different models of PPPs that could be envisaged, in the context of the development and industrialization of Togolese agriculture, in line with the ambitions of the public authorities for the sector.

Séna Akoda