Togo’s minister of environment, David Wonou Olatokou, has officially launched a major waste management project in Aneho, today.

This is a three-year project that costs more than XOF450 million. It is part of the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project - WACA-ResiP.

In detail, ECOSAN toilets will be built in 127 homes in Aneho; 2,300 homes will subscribe to a solid waste collection service; 400 homes will subscribe to another faecal waste disposal and management service. In addition, seven primary schools, located in the Glidji district, will be equipped with flush toilets.

This project, let’s recall, is one out of eleven backed under the WACA-Resip. They benefit from a XOF1.2 billion investment and aim at helping people living in coastal areas better tackle coastal erosion and sea pollution.

Also, it should be noted that in 2017, coastal erosion cost Togo $310 million, according to the World Bank.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Orabank has launched a call for manifestation of interests to select three microfinance institutions that will financially support agricultural entrepreneurs.

The tender which will close on January 31, 2020, comes in support of the Project to Improve Employment and Insertion of Youths in Profiting Sectors (PAEIJ-SP).

Selected microfinance institutions will finance entrepreneurs based in Tchamba and Blitta (Central region), Kouka (Kara), and Dapaong (Savanes).

The PAIEJ-SP, two years ago, helped 286 young entrepreneurs execute their business plans.

Also, 443 groups of farmers signed agreements to supply SMEs specialized in processing, as well as aggregators, with cassava, maize, and soybeans.

The scheme has helped companies such as JCAR and Agrokom grow.

Séna Akoda

In 2019, the soybeans sector was the first job provider of Togo’s agricultural industry. This sector is followed by sesame and pineapple.

The information was disclosed by public authorities at the 12th National Forum for Farmers recently held in Kara (412km from Lomé).

According to these authorities, the soybeans, rice, maize, and sesame sectors captured the most funds during the previous edition of this forum. Indeed, XOF5.9 billion was invested in these sectors, over a total of around XOF15.5 billion to support 10 agricultural sectors.

The funds, according to the ministry of agriculture, profited more than 75,000 actors (including about 22,000 women). In parallel, nearly 140,000 jobs were created.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The European Union and France injected about XOF12 billion in a project to fight human trafficking in nations of the Gulf of Guinea. Six countries are concerned by the initiative, including Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria. 

A workshop was organized yesterday in Lomé to discuss terms of collaboration for its implementation. 

According to Alessandro Rabiossi, the regional director for the project, it aims to “support efforts made by the various entities at the front line in this fight,” in Togo. These include the “ministry of justice and security, the police and the gendarmerie.”  

Let’s recall that earlier this month, justice, security, social affairs experts, and civil society actors from Togo and Benin met in Grand-Popo (Benin) to discuss ways to better fight human trafficking. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

UK’s independent power producer, Globeleq, will soon develop a renewable energy project in Togo. The firm signed early last month a joint development agreement with the Togolese government for the project. 

The project could be a pure hydropower plant, a combined hydropower-solar power plant, or a solar power plant with large capacity battery storage. It should generate between 24MW and 30MW of reliable, fully renewable energy. 

Kara or Dapaong, in the northern region, could host the project, depending on technological choice. Also, the plant will be connected to the Kara-Mango-Dapaong transmission line currently under construction. 

We are delighted to be working with the Togolese government on this innovative project. It will bring new low-carbon power generation to northern Togo and promote development and growth in the region. 

The agreement, let’s note, will be developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. It results from the decision of the UK and Togo to enhance their economic relations.

Globeleq is a leading developer, owner and operator of electricity generation in Africa. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Over the past decade, wealth created by Togo’s agricultural sector has doubled. This was reported by the minister of agriculture and fishery, Noel Bataka, at the opening of the 12th national forum for Togolese farmers (FNPT), yesterday. 

Indeed, from XOF640.6 billion in 2010, agricultural GDP soared to XOF13,354.4 billion in 2019. This is nearly 40% of the Togolese economy. 

The agricultural GDP grew by 6% averagely every year, over the period reviewed, with a 14% peak in 2014. A performance, which according to Bataka,“aligns with the target of the agricultural development program in Africa.” The minister added that the result was driven by the sector’s “vitality and farmers’ dynamism.” 

Regarding producer’s income, it has slightly augmented, from XOF217,149  in 2010 (thus $1.19 per day) to XOF336,300 in 2019 ($1.84 per day). The goal is to achieve an average yearly income of XOF444,548 ($2 per day), the minister of agriculture indicates. Everything, he assures, “will be done to make sure that every household has at least XOF500,000 to get out of poverty.” 

In Togo, 73% of rural populations were living in poverty in 2010. However, the figure improved from year to year, falling to around 63% in 2017. 

Enhancing local processing: A true challenge

In relation to food security, Togo recorded, again, a surplus with a rate going from 90% in 2008 to 137% in 2019. 

As for cash crop sectors, they recorded a combined growth of 408.35% over the past decade. Cotton output rose from 27,000 tons to 137,000 tons in 2019, as a result of the restructuring of Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo (NSCT) and the revitalizing of the national federation of cotton farmers’ associations (FNGPC). Last year alone, cotton farmers garnered more than XOF24 billion in net revenues. 

“No other sector has achieved such a performance so far,” Bataka declared. 

In spite of these outstanding performances, Togo has been struggling to improve its trade balance. 

“Improving trade balance, which records an 11% deficit, is one the challenges we must all work to overcome. Economic operators must put more faith in local products, process them more for our own consumption,” Noel Bataka stressed, urging the local private sector to invest more in the Togolese agribusiness industry.

The 12th national farmer forum was launched on January 23, 2020, by the minister of agriculture, Noël Bataka. 

The forum is hosted at the Palais des Congrès. Its main focus is agricultural transformation. 

“No more subsistence farming,” declared Bataka after summing up the country’s performances in agriculture in recent years.  

The minister also urged the president of the chamber of commerce and industry, Germain Meba, to get more engaged in local transformation as this would reduce the trade deficit. 

Addressing farmers, he asked them to be more dynamic while reiterating the government’s commitment to keep supporting them, through existing mechanisms. 

The event received delegations from various nations, including Morocco with the Cherifian Phosphate Office (OCP), Israel, China, Germany with its cooperation agency - GIZ, and South Africa. 

A two-day national dialogue to discuss the preservation of forests and the environment was launched on January 22, 2020, in Lomé. 

The talks focused on the rational use of firewood by populations. 

On this occasion, participants shared their respective knowledge of bioenergy to reduce the excessive exploitation of forest resources.   

“Degradation is partly due to firewood use,” said Aboudoussissamilou Issifou, the national coordinator of the Forest and Farmers’ mechanism. “We must think, together, about new sources of energy which will help reduce forest exploitation due to the use of firewood,” he added. 

The long-term goal is, therefore, to bring together researchers (technology), technical and financial partners, so as to find viable and adapted alternatives to firewood. 

The meeting is an initiative of the FAO and the Togolese ministry of environment and sustainable development. It is backed by the German cooperation agency, GiZ. 

It aligns with other initiatives launched by the government to preserve the environment and forests.

R.E.D

For its second operation on the UMOA securities market this year, Lomé will issue fungible Treasury bills, instead of fungible Treasury bonds like it did for the first operation on the regional market. 

However, the amount sought is the same for both operations - XOF25 billion. The proceeds will mainly serve to meet the government’s budgetary needs for 2020. 

The related tender was released on 22 January 2020 by the UMOA-securities agency. 

According to the entity, the bills have a nominal value of XOF10,000, a maturity of three years, for an interest rate of 6.15% per year. The date of value is February 3, 2020. 

Let’s note that this fundraising will close on February 1. It comes a few days after the country’s first, and very successful, operation on the same market.  

Séna Akoda