Togo First
President Gnassingbé launches construction of Blitta photovoltaic power plant
Construction works for the 30MW photovoltaic power plant in Blitta (Central Togo), were officially launched on February 3, by President Faure Gnassingbé.
The project, which costs $35 million, is partially financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the BOAD. AMEA Togo Solar, the local subsidiary of Emirati company AMEA Power, will set up and run the plant, under a 25-year concession. After the latter expires, the plant will be handed over to the CEET, Togo’s public utility.
“We are happy to contribute to Togo’s national electrification strategy and its national development plan,” said Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of AMEA Power.
The plant is expected to come online by June this year, with an initial production capacity of 30MW, which will increase to 50MW by October.
Besides Togo, AMEA Power, let’s emphasize, is discussing with others like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, to develop similar projects.
Togo: Since 2005, tax and customs income have almost quadrupled
Between 2005 and now, tax and customs earnings have almost quadrupled - a performance which was driven by the merging of both authorities managing these revenues.
Indeed, in 2005, tax and customs income were at XOF162 billion. However, they grew steadily - by 10% average per year - to reach XOF624 billion last year. This made Togo the only WAEMU state to reach a tax to GDP ratio of more than 20%, according to the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).
The improvement in tax and customs earnings are attributed to multiple reforms introduced by the Togolese Revenue Office - OTR. The latter started operations in 2014 and before that, taxes and customs were struggling to take off. Regardless, in 2015, they passed XOF500 billion and reached their peak in 2019: XOF624 billion. This last performance represents an increase of more than XOF200 billion compared to figures recorded before 2015.
Besides the OTR’s reforms, another factor that helped boost tax and customs revenues is a good economic environment, with the exception of H2 2017 and Q1 2018 where the country experienced some political tensions.
UMOA-securities: Togo achieves a new record, again
For its last operation on the UMOA-titres market, and the second this year, Togo recorded a subscription rate of 296%. For this transaction, Lomé issued fungible treasury bonds.
This subscription rate corresponds to about XOF75 billion, which is almost thrice the amount sought. However, the Togolese treasury will retain only XOF27.5 billion which will serve to plug budget gaps in 2020.
Bonds issued last Friday will mature in three years and their nominal value is XOF10,000. The value date was February 3 and their annual interest rate was fixed at 6.15%.
Reimbursement will begin on the first workday after the date of maturity. As for interests, they will be paid yearly, after the first year.
Séna Akoda
Artisans interested in subscribing to the INAM's health insurance in Grand Lomé can do so from now to February 7
In line with its project to provide health insurance for all Togolese artisans, the national health insurance institute (INAM) has launched a wide registration campaign in the Grand Lomé area. The campaign will close on February 7, 2020.
Those interested can register at the municipal offices of the area, at the Bè community centre, Tokoin’s, and offices of the Golfe and Agoè-Nyivé prefectures.
They should come with either a national ID, professional ID, voter’s ID, driver’s license, a birth certificate copy, a syndicate membership card, or a training certificate.
The insurance project was validated last May. At its launch, it was announced that it would benefit 100,000 artisans over a three-year period.
This project aligns with the government’s social protection and health policy. The latter aims to raise health coverage, which is currently at about 5% only, according to the INAM.
Séna Akoda
Togo's chamber of trade and industry is in the process of setting an investment and guarantee fund for SMEs and SMIs
Togo’s chamber of trade and industry (CCIT) is looking to set up an investment and guarantee fund for SMEs and SMIs. The project is backed by the European Union (EU).
The CCIT has ordered the feasibility study for the project and should meet today, February 3, with concerned actors that are likely to be engaged in the management of the fund.
Let’s recall that the institution had already put in place a guarantee mechanism to ease the execution of procurements to SMEs and SMIs. This other mechanism, according to CCIT’s boss Germain Mèba, will help struggling businesses execute public contracts.
Under the initiative, the CCIT puts XOF100 million in local banks which in turn have to lend money to companies in need.
Séna Akoda
Togo : AfDB forecasts economic growth at 5.3% this year, driven by agriculture
Driven by agriculture, Togo’s economy is expected to grow to 5.3%, a recent report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) showed.
“Economic outlook is encouraging and growth should reach 5.3% in 2020 and 5.5% in 2021,” according to the document. This positive trend should be spurred by “good results in agriculture and healthy monetary management.”
In fact, debt should fall below 70% of GDP this year, with an average budget deficit of 2.1% of GDP, and a current account deficit expected at 5.2% of GDP in 2020, and 5% in 2021.
AfDB then lauded recent “public investment that improved basic infrastructure as well as road and power infrastructure.” It also praised Togo for having organized, last year, its first legislative and local elections in more than 30 years.
Talking about headwinds, the institution mentioned an uncertain political situation, low financing rates in agriculture (less than the 0.5% average for internal loans) even though it employs most people than any other sector. Moreover, the AfDB points out Togo’s urgent need to industrialize (a key challenge the national development plan aims to tackle).
“Bank loans to growth sectors require a systematic dialogue between public and private actors,” authors of the report wrote.
Also, taxes, according to the AfDB, should be a powerful tool in improving its revenues and thus its growth.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo adheres to the OECD’s multilateral convention to fight tax evasion
Yesterday, January 30, Togo adhered to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) multilateral convention for administrative assistance in tax matters (known as “The Convention”).
The convention was signed at the OECD’s headquarters in Paris, by Calixte Batossie Madjoulba, Togo’s ambassador to France, and Ludger Schuknecht, general deputy secretary of the OECD.
Togo is, therefore, the 136th nation to sign the convention which enables adherents to enjoy on-demand information sharing, support in the event of fiscal control abroad, simultaneous tax controls, or help in collecting taxes.
Developed in 1988, the multilateral convention guarantees better protection to taxpayers of adhering States. With it, more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide can easily share data on offshore financial accounts. It is the most important tool used to tackle illicit financial flows.
R.E.D
Togo’s tax office collected more than XOF624 billion last year
In 2019, Togo’s tax office (OTR) collected more than XOF624 billion in revenues, thus 93% of the XOF669 billion it had expected for the year.
However, according to Philippe Kokou Tchodié, who heads the OTR, the monies collected are 11%-12% up compared to the amount it recorded the year before.
Over the first half of 2019, Togo had mobilized XOF326 billion in tax earnings - almost half of the amount (48%) it collected throughout the year.
The good performance was driven by various reforms, new taxes, and the reinforcement of human resource capacities, in line with the State’s objectives in regard to tax collection. Indeed, the country eyes a tax revenue of XOF678.4 billion, XOF723.3 billion, and 773.5 billion in 2020, 2021, and 2022 respectively.
Séna Akoda
French customer experience specialist VIPP Intersis opens offices in Lomé
French customer experience specialist, VIPP Intersis, announced yesterday that it will start operating in Togo next April.
The firm opened an office in Lomé in line with its expansion strategy in sub-Saharan Africa. It is already present in Cameroon and Benin.
In Togo, VIPP Intersis plans to recruit 500 young Togolese in the next three years. This year alone, it says it will recruit 100 of them. “The Togolese market is full of quality human resources and high-level infrastructures that meet our clients’ standards, notwithstanding the quality of support provided by public policies for our installation,” said the president of the French group, Charles-Emmanuel Berc.
Adding to this comment, Cina Lawson, Togo’s minister of the digital sector, declared: “This news recognizes the government’s efforts in line with the 2018-2022 national development plan which under its first axis aims at making Togo a first-class business center in the sub-region.”
“It was yielded by an ambitious plan to grow externalized services - a plan launched since 2018 by the government, through the investment promotion cell,” she added while stressing that the plan in question “should make the country an attractive pole relative to the customer experience sector, by providing cost-efficient and quality services.”
Séna Akoda
Vo-Asso and Zooti localities, in the Vo prefecture, get new power infrastructures
In Togo, new power supply infrastructures were installed in the Vo-Asso and Zooti localities in the Golfe prefecture.
Related works cost overall XOF285 million. In detail, 11.9km of medium tension lines (4.4km in Vo-Asso and 7.5km in Zooti) and 9.6km of low tension lines (6km in Vo-Asso and 3.6km in Zooti) were laid in the prefecture. Besides the tension lines, 54 and 53 light poles were respectively erected in the two localities (as well as a transformation station in Zooti).
The minister of energy, Marc Ably-Bidamon said the project aligns with the country’s electrification strategy launched by the government in 2018.
In the long run, this project should provide electricity to 300 localities. This, in a context where authorities wish to electrify the whole territory by 2030.
R.E.D