In the first quarter of  2020, 3,668 new businesses were officially started, 25% of which were by women. 

This figure corresponds to nearly 90% of all businesses started since the beginning of this year, knowingly 4,304 businesses, and 37.48% of the figure recorded throughout the past year). 

In detail, 65% of the created firms since the year began were registered by private individuals while the remaining 35% were registered by corporate bodies. Also, 3,324 of them (77% of the total) were started by Togolese citizens while 980 (23%) were started by foreigners. 

It should be noted the number of newly registered businesses between March and April was down by 46% (from 1,180 to 636), mainly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, a good point is that 1,187 firms were registered without resorting to a notary (which is one of the reforms initiated by Lomé to improve the local business environment). 

Last year, a total of 11,482 businesses were created in the country, a record. This was in a context where Togo was ranked the 15th top reformer in the world, regarding starting a business in the Doing Business report.

The University of Lomé (U.L) is giving away internet connection kits and smartphones to students. The move aims at helping them take online courses that the university resorted to due to measures taken by the government to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. 

In effect, the tools which have unlimited access to the internet will help beneficiaries access the campus’ social, participative network (RESCOUL) whose purpose is to ease interactions between the various actors of the academic community. 

“Throughout the period classes will be given online, students’ head representatives and chiefs of associations will keep the phones provided to help their mates with the registration process. They will help them open their Rescoul accounts, recover lost passwords and download classes, reactivate mail notifications, and get informed about when online classes begin,” U.L indicates.

Séna Akoda

In Togo, the block-release training institute for development (IFAD) of Elavagnon will be giving online and distance classes since schools and other training centers have been closed due to the current Covid-19 outbreak. 

In effect, the institute where aquaculture is taught will make sure learning continues while waiting for live classes to restart when current restrictions imposed to contain the Coronavirus are lifted. 

Ten IFADs should be established across the country, under the national development plan. 

An average surplus of 70,000 tons of grains (corn, sorghum, millet, local rice) was recorded in the 2019-2020 campaign. This was reported by the managing director of Togo’s agency for food security (ANSAT), Ouro-Koura Agadazi. 

Regardless of the surplus, says ANSAT’s head, “many grain production areas currently have stocks that have not been distributed.” There is, for example, Sokodé in the northeast and Elavagnon in Eastern Mono. 

This situation could negatively affect producers, according to the agency. It hence urges authorities to“take measures to help them easily deliver their products on the market,” at the risk of threatening food security.

Recent debt relief measures will have very little impact on Togo’s needs for financing, according to US rating agency Moody’s. 

In a recent assessment of the Togolese economy released on April 27, 2020, the agency explains that for 2020, debt servicing to official lenders (bilateral and multilateral) equals only 1% of the GDP, while payment of external interest rates for its part corresponds to around 0.2% of the GDP.

Meanwhile, the country’s financing needs are estimated at close to 18% of the GDP for the same period. 

For Togo, the debt relief approved by the IMF for 25 developing countries on April 25 clears only about XOF3 billion of its debt. Moreover, the decision of the G20 to delay debt payment does not affect the country’s budget much. This is because Togo, for a long time, received no external funding and its debt is mostly internal. 

Very recently, many African leaders, as well as major international finance actors, asked the IMF to proceed to an urgent issue of IMF’s special drawing rights for Africa. 

Commenting on possible solutions, Boni Yayi, former President of Benin and ex-chief of the BOAD, declared in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde: “Concerning economic solutions adapted for the continent, I believe there are two main challenges: First, new funds should be mobilized to handle the crisis sparked by the virus; Second is writing off Africa’s debt in the framework of a strategic partnership, without impairing the continent’s attractiveness.”

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Launched three weeks ago in the Grand Lomé region, the Novissi scheme has now been extended to the Tchaoudjo prefecture (330km from Lomé). 

All informal workers, above 18 years old, who have a valid voter’s ID and can prove they have lost their income due to the Covid-19 response are eligible to benefit from the scheme. 

Beneficiaries, women, and men, respectively get XOF12,500 and XOF10,500 per month to meet basic needs (food, water, power, communication). 

The money is sent via the Tmoney and Flooz mobile money platforms. Applicants can check if they are eligible by dialing *855#.

It should be recalled that as part of its response against the Coronavirus outbreak, the Togolese government recently (April 8) extended its curfew measure to the Tchaoudjo prefecture, located in the central region. 

Séna Akoda

Edem Kokou Agbobli, PhD in communications, will be promoted on July 13 to the prestigious position of vice-Chancellor of research, creation and dissemination at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). The university’s board of directors appointed him during its meeting on April 30.

"It is with pleasure that I welcome Christian Agbobli to the UQAM management team. His scientific contribution and international influence, combined with his in-depth knowledge of our university, will foster the success of his mandate," said Magda Fusaro, Chancellor of UQAM. 

The Togolese academic has been since 2006 professor at the social and public communication department of UQAM. In 2017, he became the head of this department. 

Séna Akoda

Togo’s ministry of health has announced that the National Institute of Hygiene (INH) will set up an office in Kara (412 km north of Lomé) to better manage the Covid-19 outbreak. 

The decision comes as multiple cases were recently discovered in the northern part of the country (7 cases in the Mô prefecture and one in Wawa). The cases, according to official sources, returned from Ghana. 

The new office should be operational by May 15, 2020. More than 1,500 people per day should be tested across the country once the facility is active. This is more than twice the current testing capacity - 600 tests per day.

Let it be noted that the World Bank recently approved the disbursement of $8 million for Togo to boost its testing capacity as the number Covid-19 cases keeps rising. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

To help the agricultural sector face the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lomé has decided to deploy a tailored response plan. The latter will support farmers and boost the country’s output. 

The plan seeks to increase the sector’s revenues by around XOF230 billion. To this end, it has set target outputs for cotton to 225,000 tons, nearly 2 million tons for corn, around 332,598 tons for rice, and nearly 140,000 tons for soybeans. 

Meanwhile, the country, under the new plan, should produce 6,000 tons of sesame, 7,500 tons of ginger, 9,375 tons of tomatoes, and 470 tons of pepper. 

To get funds allocated for the scheme, farmers must register with their voter’s ID and an active phone number. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi