The Togolese Chamber of Trade and Industry (CCIT) will establish an industrial zone in Agbélouvé (62 km from Lomé), and exactly in Kotso-Kopé. This zone will house a 50MW solar plant. 

For the project, the CCIT is backed, financially and technically, by its German partner Sun Farming Food & Energy, as well as other institutions. 

Over a decade, after it is launched, this industrial area should lead to the creation of 50,000 jobs. It will also help improve food security and technology transfer in Togo. 

Laying of the first stone should take place on March 5, 2020.

The project, it should be noted aligns with the national development plan (PND 2018-2022) under its second axis which is dedicated to the development of the agroindustry. 

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Togolese startup eConvivial is a laureate of the “Challenge des 1000” contest launched by France to enable Africans to take part in the Africa-France summit and the Cité des 1000 fair. The news was announced by the startup itself on its twitter account. 

The firm which operates in the health sector has developed a web and mobile app to boost youths’ access to healthcare and health-related information, including those related to sexual health and reproduction. 

It provides information and services to take care of sexually transmissible diseases (STDs). It helps sick people get healthcare rapidly by directing them to the closest health centers. 

The Cité des 1000 fair will take place next June in Bordeaux. A tender was launched in its framework to select innovative projects that contribute to the emergence of sustainable cities. 

Besides health, projects concerned should tackle the following: “access to basic services, feeding cities, building and developing cities, urban transportation and sightseeing, life in the cities, financing and structuring of projects, and connecting cities.” 

These projects should be related to the sectors of energetic security and efficiency, clean energies, risk management, agro-food, trade, architecture, insurance and digital innovation, housing, tourism, education, banking, etc.

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“Togo has lifted bureaucratic obstacles for entrepreneurs.” This was recently disclosed by the U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo, in a speech at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 

The diplomat was commenting on improvements made by the West African country to facilitate business creation. 

In this regard, Togo gained 69 places on the starting a business indicator of the 2020 Doing Business, due to multiple reforms. Among the latter, there is a significant reduction in the time needed to register a business at the CFE (center for business formalities), the possibility to create LLCs without a notarial deed, the liberalization of the social capital and of the nominal value of social shares, the suppression of registration fees, online creation of business, etc. 

These reforms helped boost the number of created companies in Togo (more than 11,000 in 2019).

Let’s recall that Pompeo had already congratulated Togolese authorities for their economic and political governance, on the sidelines of the 59th independence day celebration. On this occasion, he lauded their efforts at improving the welfare of the Togolese people and making it easier for business to thrive. 

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Gas exports from Nigeria to Benin, Togo, and Ghana have restarted. The news was announced by the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) last week, the firm that runs the pipeline through which the gas is exported. 

Operations at the facility had been halted for cleaning and inspection which were supposed to be completed at the end of March 2020. The works, completed earlier than expected, “will help us provide reliable and improved service to our customers in Ghana, Togo, and Benin, and back their efforts to foster better access to cheap, and reliable energy for economic growth,” says WAPCo.

During the inspection and cleaning of the 569km-long infrastructure, the WAPCo put in place an important database that will be analyzed in the coming months, in order to establish standards for improving the pipeline’s integrity and safety. 

The pipeline’s shareholding includes Chevron (36.9%), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation or NNPC (24.9%), Shell (17.9%), Takoradi Power Company (16.3%), Société Togolaise de Gaz (2%) and BenGaz S.A. (2%).

Togo raised on February 28, 2020, more than XOF56 billion for its fourth transaction (a fungible Treasury bond issuance) on the UMOA-Titres market this year. 

Lomé will, however, retain only XOF27.5 billion while it initially sought 25 billion. Compared to the total amount mobilized, the operation’s coverage rate stands at 224%. 

Bonds issued have a nominal value of XOF10,000 per unit. The corresponding annual rate is 6.4% and the bonds will mature over a five-year period, with date value set on March 2, 2020. 

This issuance took place in a context where Faure Gnassingbé won the first round of the recent presidential elections (with 72% of the votes). 

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“For the second consecutive year, Togo is one of the 10 first economies to improve their business environment for a better economic integration with its international partners, according to the World Bank,” says Michael Gerdts, German diplomat, at the end of a meeting on European projections for Africa, regarding investment. 

According to the diplomat, even if Europe suffers various factors like Brexit or the China-US trade war, it can still count on “new strategic opportunities, especially in Africa.”

Among others, he mentioned efforts recently made by Lomé to improve its business climate, referring to the country’s ranking in the latest Doing Business report.

“Togo has gained 40 ranks to reach 97th as a result of a battery of regulatory reforms. The positive shift is attributable to Togo’s actual President, Faure Gnassingbé, who was recently re-elected.” The leader, Gerdts stresses, “has played a major role in the transformation of Togo into a first-class business hub, not only in West Africa but in the world.” This, in addition to showing “he could handle serious internal crises.” 

Togo is now the 63rd (out of 190) country on the World Bank’s women, business and law index. The latter measures the legal differences on access to economic opportunities between men and women in 190 economies. It is based on the eight following indicators: Mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pension. 

The population surveyed answered questions such as Can a woman choose where to live in the same way as a man? Can a woman travel outside her home in the same way as a man? Can a woman apply for a passport in the same way as a man?  Can a woman get a job in the same way as a man? Does the law prohibit discrimination in employment based on gender? Is there legislation on sexual harassment in employment?  Does the law mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value? 

With a score of 84.4 over 100, Togo is 7th in Africa on the ranking, behind Mauritius (1st in Africa and 34th worldwide with a score 91.9 pts), South Africa (88.1 pts), Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, Tanzania, and Namibia. In West Africa, Togo is the second-best in terms of equal access to opportunities for men and women, right after Cape Verde. 

In the world, the first eight countries towering this ranking are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden. The last eight for their part are Muslim nations. 

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At the beginning of this week, the 43rd regular session of the UN human rights council was opened in Geneva, by Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the UN. Various topics covered at the meeting include improving, promoting and protecting human rights all over the world.

Togo is represented at the session by Yackoley Koko Johnson, the Togolese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative to the UN. As one of the Council’s four Vice Presidents, the diplomat chaired last Monday at the three-day high-level segment meeting. This was in the presence of Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, who will chair the whole regular session till it ends, on March 20. 

The human rights council was established in 2006. The UN entity handles all matters related to human rights violations around the world.

The government of Togo seeks to augment the capital of the “Huilerie de Sokodé,” which is a soy-based oil factory located in Kparataou, in the Tchaoudjo prefecture. 

In detail, the firm’s capital will be increased to about XOF487 million, 30% of which the government seeks to raise from a local private investor. To this end, public authorities have launched a tender that closes on March 5, 2020. The selected partner can be a legal person, a bank, a lending institution, or an institutional finance investor. These include a professional private equity fund, a joint placement fund, a proximity investment fund or a venture capital firm.   

The interests of the sought investor should not conflict with that of the oil factory and it should have the capacity to disburse XOF100 million in cash to join the facility’s shareholding. 

Having a good knowledge of the agro-food or agro-industrial sector, selling or exporting agro-food products will be an asset also.

Séna Akoda