Togo First
Lomé will host the West Africa Livestock and Meat fair in May
From May 7 to May 10, this year, Lomé will host the West Africa Livestock and Meat Fair (SIBVA 2020). The regional event will take place at the Eda Oba hotel in Lomé.
One of the peculiarities of this fair, which is backed by the Togolese government, is that it aims to foster public-private partnerships for better development of this sub-sector (ed note: livestock and meat) that can drive economic growth and wealth, said Togo’s minister of agriculture, Noel Bataka. The official then urged actors concerned to efficiently contribute to the successful development of the livestock and meat sub-sector.
Let’s note that this industry accounts for nearly 50% of Togo’s GDP. It is a major job and wealth provider.
Before Togo, Côte d’Ivoire was the first to host the SIBVA in 2016. The fair is organized by the West Africa Confederation of National Federations for Livestock and Meat (COFENABVI-AO).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
In Togo, it now takes about five days to register a property
At the end of 2019, the property registration process in Togo took only five days on the average, against eight at the beginning of the same year, recent data from the national land registration office shows.
According to the World Bank, the improvement is attributable to reforms introduced by the government to make Togo’s business environment more attractive. “The reforms improved transparency, reduced paperwork, and led to a better cost-efficiency in property registration,” said the institution that ranked Togo among the best eight African countries to have improved their policies and institutions in 2018.
Hence, to maintain the performance it achieved at the end of 2019, authorities continue to pursue reforms. For example, they recently launched an e-Land platform enabling notaries and surveyors to handle land-related formalities online.
Séna Akoda
Togo: MIFA to support organic productions identified as investment niches
Togo’s Ministry of Agriculture has initiated a plan to invest in organic agricultural productions. The plan will be leaned on the country’s existing strategy to develop the concerned sectors, which have been found to be investment niches.
On January 31, the ministry should host a meeting with actors engaged in these sectors. These include direct actors, goods and services suppliers, State support institutions and development partners.
The meeting aims at improving their access to support facilities provided by the Agricultural Financing Incentive Mechanism - MIFA.
It should be noted that in Togo, organic soybeans are in the spotlight, relative to investments. This is due to firms like JCAT and Agrokom which are two success stories of the Project Supporting Youth Employment and Insertion in Profitable Sectors (PAEIJ-SP).
Séna Akoda
During the first half of 2019, Togo totaled 3% of all e-money transfers recorded in the WAEMU
At end-June 2019, Togo totaled 3% of all e-money transfers recorded in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). According to the BCEAO which disclosed the figure, in the first and second quarters of 2019, e-money transfers recorded by the whole Union amounted to XOF156.12 billion and XOF143.58 billion, respectively.
Proportionally, Togo was ahead of Guinea Bissau (0.99% of transfers) and Niger (0.54%), but it is behind Benin (3.07%) and Senegal (3.95%).
Côte d’Ivoire captured the lion’s share in the economic zone - 61% of the transfers. Right after it follows Mali and Burkina Faso (15.14% and 11.66% respectively).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: The World Bank praises the women of Anié for producing premium parboiled rice
In Togo, the Femmes Vaillantes of Anié, a cooperative of 12 women producing premium parboiled, was given an upgraded parboiler by the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP). The latter also trained the women in the production of premium quality parboiled rice.
“In the past, we parboiled rice by directly pouring unhusked rice into a pot filled with water, a technique that led to a great deal of loss and residue,” explains Ebiro Kadokalih, president of the association. “However, we now have a real parboiler that allows us to produce cleaner rice with no breakage,” she added.
The rice produced by the women of Anié is sold under the brand Riz étuvé de la Coopérative femmes vaillantes d’Anié.
The tools helped the cooperative triple their output, reaching 800 kg per week of parboiled rice. “Using the profit derived from the increase in its sales volume, the cooperative has bought two hectares of land in the small village of Sevia, roughly 10 kilometers from Anié, with the goal of increasing its production”, the World Bank said.
The Bretton Woods institution has invested $32.8 million in the WAAPP. This project aligns with Togo’s agricultural investment and food security program (PNIASA) and it aims at boosting agricultural output in the West African region. In Togo especially, the WAAPP has so far backed 10 women-led cooperatives producing parboiled rice. It has directly impacted more than 227,000 Togolese women.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
French SME Hydrimpex opens its first African office in Togo
Water supply and oil-gas equipment manufacturer, Hydrimpex, has expanded its activities to Africa, with a first office in Lomé.
The French SME plans to soon follow up with its first showroom and warehouse in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which Togo is part of.
Hydrimpex could provide equipment for water supply, drills, irrigation, sanitation, pumps, and various other equipment used in the water, oil and gas sectors.
The equipment maker said it intends to take its corporate social responsibility (CSR) very seriously. Indeed, according to French-Togolese Pascal Ayayi Creppy, head of exports and manager of the group’s strategy in Africa, “in regards to CSR, last December, we visited a school in Gbenyedji to learn and understand how they operate. The director of this school said he is willing to work with us, so does Hydrimpex. We wish to drill a well at the Kozah agropole.”
Talking about the group’s ambitions in Africa, Ayayi Creppy added: Today it’s Togo, tomorrow Benin, next we spread to the rest of the WAEMU.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Container traffic at the port of Lomé hits a new record
The port of Lomé just set a new record for its container traffic, passing 1.5 million TEU in 2019. The year before that, the infrastructure had recorded a container traffic of 1.4 million TEU.
In 2019, the volume of goods that transited through the port was 22.610 million tons, against 22.117 million in 2018.
The figures were disclosed today, January 28, 2020, by Fogan Adegnan, managing director of the port of Lomé, on the first day of the open houses of the SEGUCE (Société d’Exploitation du Guichet Unique du Commerce Extérieur).
According to Adegnan, the SEGUCE helped achieve the results mentioned. Indeed, the facility helped cut delays and costs associated with external trade formalities.
Since 2017, subsequent to multiple reforms, the Port of Lomé became one of the best ports in Africa and the first in West and Central Africa.
Séna Akoda
Ecobank launches sandbox to help African fintechs develop innovative apps
Lomé-based pan-African lender Ecobank has launched a sandbox. This is an IT security system enabling its partners and fintechs, across all 33 African countries where the bank operates, to access and develop apps through its App Programming Interface (API).
The move, according to the bank, will promote its e-banking segment. It follows the appointment last year of a new Group Senior Fintech Advisor, Djiba Diallo.
Diallo, after the announcement of the sandbox pilot, declared: “It will create a great avenue for collaboration between Ecobank and Fintechs, give fintechs the chance to further innovate while developing the capacity of the wider fintech ecosystem on the continent.”
“The sandbox is yet another indication that Ecobank firmly believes that digital banking is the future and the future is now. Hence our commitment to lead Africa into the new age of banking,” added Ecobank CEO, Ade Ayeyemi.
For this pilot stage, five African fintechs have been selected, knowingly: InTouch (Senegal), Flutterwave (Nigeria), Africa's Talking (Kenya), Callme2Work (Kenya), and Esicia Ltd (Rwanda).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Minister of Agriculture launches agribusiness training targeting more than 20,000 young Togolese entrepreneurs
Yesterday, the minister of agriculture, Noel Bataka, officially launched a 10-day agribusiness training in Dapaong (621 km north of Lomé).
Named Camp du futur Togo 2020 (2020 Togo Camp of the future), the training targets more than 20,000 youths and women, across 13 specific prefectures (including Dapaong). It aims to boost the capacities of participants by leveraging modern management tools so that they better steer their agricultural businesses.
Let’s indicate that the pilot stage of the ongoing training took place at the end of 2019, in Kpélé-Adéta. At the time, more than 1000 agricultural entrepreneurs had been trained.
Let’s also note that the program’s beneficiaries operate in the maize, soybeans, cassava, fishery, poultry, small ruminants, pig, and the fruit and vegetable sectors.
R.E.D
Togo: Tax office warns businesses owing taxes to settle their dues before January 31
In Togo, all business that still owe taxes and duties must settle their dues by January 31, 2020. The deadline was set by the tax office, Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR), according to a recent statement released by the institution.
The tax office threatens to publish, on its website, the names of firms that will fail to pay what they owe within the set period.
The concerned operators will, in line with article 10 of Togo’s fiscal regulation, no more be able to retrieve imported goods. According to the law, “a 15% customs value will be levied on each import transaction.”
Let’s recall that last April, the OTR released the list of businesses that have settled all taxes. The tax office at the time urged businesses still owing to pay their dues.
Séna Akoda