Togo First
Togo : NSIA and the Post office partner to deliver insurance products
Insurer NSIA has teamed up with the Togolese Post Company (SPT) to offer insurance products. This was disclosed by the SPT yesterday, February 17.
From now on, clients or potential clients of NSIA Insurance can subscribe to the following insurances at a post office: Travel insurance, NSIA Auto and NSIA Dagbe.
This is good news for the post office which recently entered a similar partnership with TogoCom and Moov, making the operators’ mobile money services, Tmoney and Flooz, accessible in remote areas, via SPT dispatched agents.
Séna Akoda
ACP-EU: Cotonou agreement is extended to December 2020
Initially set to expire this month (February 29), the Cotonou partnership agreement will finally expire in December 2020.
The decision to extend the expiry date of the ACP-EU agreement was reached last Friday. It was the conclusion of the first session of talks between the two chief negotiators of the two parties concerned, Robert Dussey (who is also Togo’s minister of foreign affairs) for the ACP, and Jutta Urpilainen, for the EU.
The agreement which was effective since June 2000, will, therefore, remain in vigor with no amendment.
In the meantime, “EU and ACP teams will continue negotiations, merging proposals and fine-tuning the text of the agreement. These include the general provisions, means of cooperation, institutional framework and final provisions,” they said.
Let’s recall that talks for a new agreement began in September 2018, in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly. The new agreement should redefine terms of the existing partnership agreement between ACP countries and the European Union
Togo has spent close to XOF1000 billion to improve its roads in recent years
Nearly XOF1000 billion was spent to improve roads in Togo in the recent years, official sources revealed.
The main infrastructures that captured the investment are the national road N°1 , major crossroads and bridges
In detail, more than 430 km of roads along the RN N°1 axis were rehabilitated or built. The segments concerned include Lomé – Davié, Atakpamé –Blitta –Aouda, Nadjil-Tandjouaré – Cinkassé, the bypasses of Aledjo Défalé, and Kanté – Tandjouaré (under construction).
As for the crossroads built, they include among others Tsévié-Tabligbo-Aného, Notsé-Tohoun-Benin Border, Témédja-Badou–Ghana border and the junctions of Kougnohou and Kouméa, Pya-Tchariè and Soumdina. The goal of these projects is to unclog production sites. In this same framework, more than 5,000km of rural roads were rehabilitated.
Last are the bridges which include a 95m bridge at Aneho, 120m bridge at Alinmondji, a 120m bridge across the Kara River in Katchamba and two bridges (spanning respectively 160 m and 93 m) that cross the Koumongou and Mô Rivers.
Among other important road projects falling under the national development plan is the one involving the doubling of the RN N°1 track.
Séna Akoda
African Lease Togo launches its own mobile payment app
The Togolese firm specialized in factoring and leasing has launched an application to boost mobile payment in the country.
Named African Lease Mobile Pay, this platform will help users pay their contributions to the national social security fund (CNSS), in addition to easing the payment of taxes and duties to the Tax Revenue Office (Office Togolais des Recettes - OTR).
The new app which is available on Google Play and App Store adds to the Tmoney and Flooz services which are also linked to the CNSS.
Séna Akoda
Faure Gnassingbé promises fully free caesarean sections ahead of coming elections
As the presidential campaign goes on, President Faure Gnassingbé makes one big commitment after the other.
Last Friday, the leader was in Agbelouvé, a village situated between Notsè and Tsevié (Zio prefecture), where he announced a battery of reforms that will profit women.
If he is reelected, he says : “the Caesarean section which was covered at 98% will be completely free as a kind gesture to our mothers.” And “for all their health issues, pregnant women won’t have to pay anything.”
In addition to this promise, Faure Gnassingbé raised the maximum amount of loans that women can get from the FNFI to XOF10 million. And while most other candidates did not discuss the issue, he said 30% of all planned agricultural development zones (ZAAP) will be reserved for women.
Financial Inclusion: IFAD extends PNER by one more year, due to its good performances
The national project for the promotion of rural entrepreneurship (PNER) was extended for one more year, while it was supposed to end last year December, 30th. The decision was taken by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), partner on the initiative, which said the extension should consolidate its achievements.
So far, the PNER has financed around 160 entrepreneurs with XOF1.13 billion, according to the latest review of the project in December 2019. These good performances, paired with new synergies between the PNER and IFAD, spurred its extension.
Backed by the government, the PNER should help create 1800 micro and small businesses in rural areas. Estimated cost for the project to achieve this result is XOF19 billion.
The current extension, sources close to the project indicate, could be increased by another six months.
UMOA-Securities: Regional investors keep their trust in Togolese economy ahead of coming presidential polls
Despite concerns expressed by big financial institutions regarding risks associated with the coming Togolese presidential elections on February 22, the trust of West African investors in the country does not falter.
Indeed, last Friday, for its third security issuance (fungible Treasury bonds) on the UMOA-Titres market, Togo raised nearly XOF53 billion, while seeking only XOF25 billion. The country will, however, retain only 27.5 billion out of the sum mobilized. This amount will partly be allocated to the 2020 State budget.
Togo’s elections will be a test for the West African region where other countries such as Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea Conakry will also organize presidential polls this year.
Séna Akoda
The West African Development Bank seals its biggest deal ever, to finance infrastructures across the WAEMU
The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has signed with Canada-based investment firm Cordiant capital an agreement under which the latter will manage two new funds created by the regional bank.
The first fund, an infrastructure fund, will get a capital of €400 million, and the second, a seed capital fund, will receive €40 million. The money will be spent to advance infrastructures across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), with a particular focus on energy, transport, and communication.
“This is the the largest commitment ever made by the institution since it was established,” said Christian Adovelande, president of the BOAD.
In detail, the regional bank, which is the benchmark investor in the two funds, will invest €58 million or XOF38.2 billion, in both - respectively XOF12 billion and XOF26.2 billion in the seed fund and the infrastructure fund.
Cordiant Capital, let’s note, already runs seven infrastructure funds ($4 billion) in emerging markets. However, its partnership with the BOAD should lead it to open an office in a WAEMU State.
Where to invest in Africa 2020: Togo gains five places
In its Where to Invest in Africa 2020 report, Rand Merchant Bank ranked Togo as the 35th (over 54) country where investing is easiest on the continent.
The country thus gained five places compared to 2019, driven by improvements in its business climate.
Togo, which according to the Doing Business 2020 is Africa’s top reformer, and third in the world, is a better place to invest than its neighbors, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
According to the Where to Invest in Africa report, the top 10 nations that are most attractive for investors are Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tunisia. The worst places to invest in, on the other hand, are South Sudan, Liberia, Burundi, Somalia, and Equatorial Guinea.
To produce their report, authors at the South African bank used data from the Doing Business 2020, Transparency International’s corruption index, Heritage Foundation’s economic freedom index, and the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness report.
Séna Akoda
In Togo, the CIZO project welcomes three newcomers
Three new firms have joined BBOXX and SOLEVA on the CIZO rural energy project in Togo. These are Moon, Solergie and Fenix International.
The first of the newcomers, Moon, is a French firm yielded by the crowdlending platform Solylend. Under CIZO, it will provide its Moon Kit which is a solar system that provides lighting and charges USB devices. It comes with a Moonphone, which is a special smartphone through which beneficiaries are to pay back for the kit.
Solergie, a Belgian firm that partnered with Total in 2018, will roll out its SolergieBox in Togo’s rural areas. This is a solar system to which up to eight users can connect.“The SolergieBoxes are connected to our online platform via a mobile network,” the company says.
The last of the three firms, Fenix INTL., is a subsidiary of French multinational Engie (since 2017). Based in Uganda where its main activity is located, it is a pioneer on the home solar systems market in Africa.