The Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Commission plans to open in Lomé a center to train its staff. The related communiqué was released by the Commission on February 3, 2020. 

“Centralizing training will give the staff members the chance to acquire technical skills and capacities needed to do their work at the ECOWAS,” said Prof. Dias Jeremias Furtado, human resources commissioner at the Commission. 

Let’s recall that the creation of the same center in Abuja was approved the same day the communiqué was released. In Abuja, the facility will receive all citizens of the ECOWAS. It will mostly provide intra-institutional and inter-institutional training, train newly hired employees and facilitate activities such as the training of trainers themselves. Lagos could also get a similar center.

From 2015 to 2018, the completion rate of primary school in Togo grew from 83% to 89%. According to the World Bank which disclosed the figures, the country is the best performer in the WAEMU over the period concerned.

In 2017, Togo was ahead of Cote d'Ivoire (71.6%), Burkina Faso (65%), Senegal (57%), and Mali (49.6%). Two years before, the country came before Benin (81%), Burkina Faso (62 %), Cote d'Ivoire (60%), Senegal (59.66%), and Mali (50%).

Let’s recall that over the 2008-2018 decade, primary schooling rate in Togo rose from 98% to 126.8%, recent data from the government indicates. In 2018, 155,000 children got enrolled in primary school, against about 86,000 in 2013 (this represents an average growth of 12% per year). 

The figures were bolstered among others by recent initiatives, such as the school canteen project, in the education sector.

In Togo, the posts and telecommunications regulatory authority, ARCEP, will soon open its own call center. 

This center, ARCEP said in a statement, will allow every citizen to get information on the telecommunications and posts sectors. They will also be able to submit complaints against some operators, as well as report issues regarding their networks, or even make recommendations to the regulator. 

This will improve relations between operators and their customers. 

According to ARCEP, opening the call center aligns with legal provisions on telecommunications and its mission to preserve customers’ interests. 

Let’s recall that on May 29, 2019, organizations in charge of protecting and defending customers’ rights and ARCEP signed a framework partnership agreement in this regard. 

Séna Akoda

This year, BOA Togo intends to raise its loans to the agricultural sector, bringing it to XOF7 billion. The move falls in line with the bank’s partnership with the Incentive Mechanism for Agricultural Financing (MIFA). It was announced last month, during the 12th national forum for Togolese farmers (FNPT), held in Kara.

“We have received the authorization to spend a total of XOF7 billion of loans on agricultural machinery this year,” representatives of the banking group had said at the time.  

The sum set is 46% more than what BOA Togo loaned to the sector last year - XOF4.8 billion- BOA Togo intends to raise its loans to the agricultural sector.

Agriculture is considered a high-risk industry and thus struggles to get loans from traditional lenders. Another reason explaining the low lending to this sector is that financial institutions lack the technical specialization to assess it. 

The MIFA’s role is thus to help BOA better understand and target sub-sectors in need of financing (fertilizers, production, processing, export, industrialization), in addition to providing technical support to agricultural actors. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Through the fund of Autonomous Company for Road Maintenance Financing (SAFER), the government of Togo plans to proceed to the maintenance of more than 340km of roads. 

The works will be done on the National Road N°1 in Lomé, Togblekopé, Tsévié, Notsé, Atakpamé and Aouda, Sokodé, Kara and Kanté. They will include major and minor rehabilitation, as well as resurfacing.

In detail, 61km of roads in the maritime region, 86km in the Plateaux, 59km in the central region, and 136 km in the Kara region will be rehabilitated. 

An international tender is opened until March 5, 2020, in the framework of this project. The works will be divided into 12 lots. Any firm interested in executing the contract can apply for a maximum of four lots, however, they can only win one each. 

To rehabilitate and maintain roads this year, SAFER said it would raise XOF14 billion. This is about ⅓ of the total amount needed for these works in 2020 - XOF39 billion. 

Séna Akoda

The government of Togo plans to raise a total of CFA420 billion on the regional financial market to finance its 2020 budget, UMOA-Titres reports in its 2020 securities issue calendar. According to the document, Togo is set to raise CFA150 billion in the first quarter, split into CFA125 billion fungible treasury bonds (OATs) and CFA25 billion treasury bills (BATs).

In the 2nd quarter, the country wants CFA75 billion, with CFA40 billion in BATs and CFA35 billion in OATs. In Q3, CFA135 billion is sought only through the issue of fungible treasury bonds. The operation in the last quarter will consist of the issue of bills, seeking CFA20 billion, and fungible bonds, seeking CFA40 billion. This final fundraising will allow the country to test its rating on the market.

Togo is the second country after Guinea Bissau (CFA75 billion) to consider taking on less debt on the WAEMU market this year. Other countries moving in the same direction are Niger (CFA465 billion) and Senegal (CFA485 billion). Record mobilization are planned by Cote d'Ivoire (CFA1,075 billion) and Benin (CFA734 billion).

The aggregate amount expected to be raised at the regional level is CFA4,361 billion, including CFA1,562 billion BATs and CFA2,799 billion OATs.

This year, Togo has already made two operations on the regional market to mobilize a total of CFA50 billion. The two issues were oversubscribed to 276% and 296%, respectively, and the country collected CFA55 billion to supply the Public Treasury. Its third issue of the year, for CFA25 billion, will be closed on 14 February.

Séna Akoda

CimMetalgroup, owned by Burkinabe mogul Inoussa Kanazoé, could spend around XOF100 billion (€152.4 million) in Togo’s cement and iron sectors. According to Jeune Afrique, the group inked an agreement last month to build an industrial complex in the country. 

It was allowed to fund iron and cement factories in Togo. However, the two parties disclosed no detail on the matter. Still, if it is true, this would greatly contribute to the sectors concerned and the national development plan (PND). 

CimMetalgroup’s financing reinforced Togo’s foreign investment portfolio in the past few months. One of these major investments was made by Africa’s richest Aliko Dangote. The Nigerian billionaire has invested more than $2 billion in the cement and phosphate-to-fertilizer sector. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

SMEs and SMIs in Togo currently need XOF1,000 billion of investments. This was revealed by a recent survey carried out in the framework of the creation of an investment-guarantee fund for SMEs and SMIs. The latter was ordered by Togo’s Chamber of Trade and Industry and the European Union delegation. 

Overall, the funds are needed by around 4,000 companies which total a combined turnover of XOF500 billion per year. 

However, these businesses, which are mostly one-man businesses, employ only 2.7% of Togo’s active workforce. 

The fund planned aims at supporting SMEs and SMIs and subsequently boosting employment. 

Meeting with the private sector

The survey’s results were discussed last Monday, by public and private actors ; entrepreneurs, investors, bankers, investment fund executives, local elects, and other development actors. 

The study was led by Béatrice Clotilde Jauffrineau, a French expert in investment. Among strong points that facilitate the creation of the projected fund, she mentioned, are a high rate of business start-ups, the existence of a national loan council, the continuous improvement of the business climate, and other reforms such as the government’s decision to allocate 25% procurement to SMEs owned by youths and women. 

Soon, a financing mechanism for the industry and trade sectors?

During the meeting, Germain Méba, head of CCIT, talked about the “possible creation of an incentive mechanism to finance industry and trade,” inspired by the MIFA which backs the agricultural sector. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi