A few days after part of the medical staff of the Sylvanus Olympio hospital were quarantined, about 12 medical workers from the Bè hospital (in Lomé) have just been isolated. 

The quarantine was decided after the detection of Covid-19 infected patients at the two medical facilities. 

Let it be recalled that all medical staff were required to wear face masks since the first quarantine. 

To date, Togo has reported 86 cases of Covid-19. Out of this, 56 have recovered. This is the highest rate of recovery in West Africa, just ahead of Senegal, according to recent data from WHO. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo just adopted a battery of fiscal measures to support businesses as they grapple with the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Among others, the tax rate for the hospitality and catering sectors that are severely impacted by the outbreak has been reduced to 10%. Also, authorities have suspended ongoing tax audits and have limited the inspection to corporate citizenship. 

Moreover, penalties for the late payment of taxes due in the second quarter of the year have been suspended as well. In parallel, penalties were revised for companies that have been audited. 

Authorities will also provide support to one-man businesses that could not submit financial statements before March 31, 2020, and to corporations that will not be able to pay their taxes by April 30, 2020. 

SMEs and SMIs will benefit from a special treatment which consists in allowing them to pay taxes in tranches and enjoy more flexibility in regard to outstanding taxes (this measure applies to all taxpayers in general).

Séna Akoda

Gozem plans to expand to a new town in Togo, two years after starting operations in Lomé. In this framework, the startup is conducting surveys on social networks to find out the opinion of its clients. 

The firm, already present in Benin and Gabon, also eyes the following markets in the next two years: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, DRC and Rwanda. 

Last year, in November, Gozem reported that its app had been downloaded more than 250,000 times. 

Séna Akoda

In the wake of the government’s Covid-19 response, it has been decided that markets in the Golfe and Agoè-Nyyivé prefectures shall now open at 8 AM and close at 4 PM. 

The decision announced on April 20, 2020, by the ministry for territorial administration, aims to make sure that populations adapt to the curfew imposed (8 PM) and conform to the national health emergency. 

Markets are major places of exchange and gathering. As such, they are significant zones for potential transmission. 

To date, Togo has officially reported 84 confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 25 active, 53 who recovered and six deaths. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Fake news being spread online states that some “banknotes of XOF10,000 and XOF5,000 with false serial numbers” are circulating in the West African monetary union. The news which supposedly originates from the Central Bank of West Africa (BCEAO) which prints the notes urges people in the region to no more accept the notes (bearing the A, N, S, and T serial numbers). 

The information was denied by the BCEAO which added that reliable information can be found on its official website. 

For those behind the scam, the BCEAO says it will bring them to justice as their actions hurt the trust of the populations as well as the currency which is used across the West African monetary union. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo’s minister of economy and finance, Sani Yaya, is the new head of the council of governors of the ECOWAS investment and development bank (BIDC). 

He was appointed during the 18th ordinary session of the bank which was recently held in Lomé. The Togolese official replaces Jacob Jusu Saffa, Sierra Leone’s minister of finance. 

According to the director of BIDC, George Agyekum Donkor, “M. Yaya embodies diligence and polyvalence” which are “qualities that will add value to our institution.” 

Yaya, besides being the minister of Finance of Togo, was the chief of audit at Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), chief operating officer at NSIA and worked at the BCEAO for nearly six years (...)

Junior ATIGLO-GBENOU

Starting today, it is compulsory for all medical personnel in Togo to wear face masks, according to a recently released official statement.

The measure was taken a few days after some health workers at the Sylvanus Olympio teaching hospital came in contact with two Covid-19-infected individuals (the patients were diagnosed late and unfortunately died). After the incident, many members of the staff of the pneumology ward were quarantined. 

In addition to imposing the wearing of face masks for health workers, the official statement recommends it to civilians as well. 

To date, Togo has reported 84 cases of Covid-19; 52 have recovered, 27 still active, and five deaths. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Only two weeks into commencement and more than XOF2.5 billion cash has been distributed to Togolese citizens most affected by Lomé’s Covid-19 response. 

A total of 462,000 people received the money to cope with the situation. In detail, 300,998 women received more than XOF1.8 billion while men obtained about XOF845 million. 

Let it be recalled that women, under the scheme, get XOF6,125 each while every eligible man gets XOF5,252. This is half of the sum they must receive monthly during the crisis.

Séna Akoda