Togo First
Yearly, exports from the Free-trade area generate more than CFA240 billion
With over CFA240 billion of investments attracted since its creation, the Togolese free trade area exports about CFA242 billion worth of goods and services yearly, according to the Presidency.
Goods and services exported range from agro-food products to pharmaceuticals, banking software, beekeeping products, horticultural products, vehicle batteries, latest print products, etc. Companies supplying these benefit from tax incentives.
The Free-trade area generates a turnover of CFA268 billion per annum and its contribution to Togo’s GDP stands at CFA67.88 billion.
Now, Lomé, under its 2020-2025 development plan aims to boost the zone’s added value to the economy. It plans to do so by introducing major reforms, including some to operationalize the new Agency for the promotion of investments and the Free Trade area (API-ZF), as well to by commencing works to set up Adéticopé’s industrial platform (PIA).
Séna Akoda
Togo and Shelter-Afrique partner to build 3,000 low-cost housing units in Lomé
Shelter-Afrique and the Togolese government will build 3,000 low-cost housing units in Lomé. This is in a context where the housing deficit in the Togolese capital surged over the past decade, due to population growth and accelerated urbanization.
The project will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP). The related agreement was recently inked in Nairobi, Kenya, by both parties involved.
This initiative lines up with Lomé’s ambition to build 20,000 social housing units by 2022, a deadline that was extended to 2025 due to Covid-19.
In detail, Shelter-Afrique, a pan-African finance institution, committed to partially finance the project and, as lead arranger, mobilize other investors to secure the remaining amount. For its part, the Togolese government will provide the needed land, infrastructure, and tax incentives for its smooth realization.
Through this major PPP, Lomé reaches a new milestone in its social housing program - one of the key components of the National Development Plan (PND).
“The Memorandum of Understanding we just signed with Shelter-Afrique marks a new stage in our partnership and it will be crucial to reach our housing target for 2025,” said Koffi Tsolenyanu, Togo’s Minister of Urbanism, Housing and Land Reform.
Commenting on the development, Shelter Afrique said it intends to use the Togolese PPP model as a springboard to expand its investments and interventions in the social housing sector, in Africa. This, the firm added, is in a context where the continent is said to record a housing shortage of 56 million units, 90% of which fall under the affordable housing category.
In Togo, the latest data shows that the government has built more than 20,000 housing units since 2005. In 2018, the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), which provides medium and high-end housing, launched a vast project to build 599 housing units called Résidence Renaissance. The total cost for the project is estimated at more than 91 billion FCFA.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo, Nigeria’s only debtor to clear part of what it owes for power bought from the giant
Last year, the Compagnie d’Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) paid 1.51 billion naira (CFA2.16 billion) for power bought from Nigeria.
Doing so, Togo somehow calmed tensions with Abuja which threatened, repeatedly, to cut its supply.
It should be noted that so far, Lomé is the only one to have cleared part of the debt it owed the West African giant - contrary to Benin and Niger. These two owe a total of 2.60 billion or nearly CFA3.7 billion to Nigeria, according to a report recently published by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and covering Q2 2020.
In this regard, the Nigerian regulator still threatens to stop providing them with power.
Let’s recall that in mid-2020, the CEET (Togo’s power utility) raised CFA25 billion from the West African Development Bank (BOAD) to settle its debts.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Paris Club suspends Togo’s debt repayment until June
In the framework of the Debt Relief Service Initiative (ISSD), the Paris Club suspended Togo’s debt repayment until June 30, 2021. The news was disclosed in a statement released by the Club on February 11, 2021.
This is a six-month extension granted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is conditioned by Togo’s commitment to “dedicate the resources freed by this initiative to measures aimed at curbing the health, economic, and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also committed to asking all other official bilateral creditors to treat debt service per the agreed schedule and its amendment.”
The decision should also enable Togo to “improve debt transparency and management.”
Séna Akoda
Togo is the best country regarding the promotion of women’s rights, in West Africa
Togo is the first country in the ECOWAS region and the 7th in sub-Saharan Africa to promote women both in business as well as in top public positions. This was revealed in the recently-published World Bank Women, Business and Law 2021 report.
With a score of 84.4 points, Togo came 7th over 10 in the SSA region, ahead of Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mozambique. Togo’s performance is attributable to many reforms to improve women’s access to land and encourage entrepreneurship by setting aside 25% of public contracts for youths and women.
In 2020, 27% of all newly-registered businesses in Togo (3,426 in total) were owned by women, in line with the government’s ambition to have 28% of businesses registered in the country, by 2022, being owned by women and 44% of loan granted to businesses going to them.
In the public sector, Togo recorded major accomplishments with women leading the national assembly, the Prime Minister’s office, and the Presidency’s general secretary, among others. In this regard, Togo did better than Seychelles (76.3 pt) and is far ahead of its neighbors, Benin and Ghana.
At the top of the WB’s ranking are Mauritius, South Africa, and Zimbabwe whilst Eswatini, Guinea Bissau, and Sudan came last.
The Women, Business and Law 2021 report is a global ranking that assesses laws and reforms in 190 countries, looking at efforts made to eliminate gender-based discrimination and support women.
Séna Akoda
A Togolese-French conglomerate picked to carry out the Post’s digital addressing project
Togolese firm Hi-Tech and two French IT companies, Naomis and Edenmap, will develop the digital addressing project of the Post office.
“The Naomis-Hi-Tech-Edenmap conglomerate had the highest combined technical/financial score and was picked as the provisional winning bidder,” said members of the commission in charge of the Post’s public contracts.
In effect, the firms will design and launch an app that will enable postal services to localize their customers and digitally map out the country.
The system should cost around CFA120 million according to the final bid submitted by the winners. The amount is less expensive than that proposed by ITC Innovation-AsaaseGPS.
The projected platform should facilitate the sharing of digital addresses through SMS, mail, and WhatsApp. It will be available in many formats (Web, Android, iOS).
Let’s note that the provision of this contract to the selected consortium is a new milestone in the Post’s efforts to complete the country’s digital mapping.
Séna Akoda
Kpobié Tchasso Akaya is the new permanent secretary in charge of reform policies
Kpobié Tchasso Akaya, advisor to former PM Komi Sélom Klassou, is the new head of the permanent secretariat in charge of reforms and financial programs (SP-PRPF), a State entity overseen by the ministry of finance. Akaya took over last Thursday, from Mongo Aharh-Kpessou who retired.
The new director will coordinate, support, and monitor the State’s institutions and ministerial departments, in the conception and implementation of reforms.
As an intermediate with technical and financial partners, notably the IMF, the World Bank (WB), the European Union (EU), and the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akaya will coordinate their interventions in Togo and ensure that the latter meets commitments it made to benefit from the budget support and programs launched by these partners.
Social Security Fund extends social security to the informal sector
Last Thursday, the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) launched in Lomé the Project in Support of the Expansion of Social Security to the Informal Sector.
Previously announced by Togo First, the initiative aims to provide health and old-age insurance to freelance and informal workers who have no social insurance.
Backed by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the European Union (EU), this mechanism aims to speed up the provision of social insurance to informal workers. Overall, about 3.5 million of these workers, 52% of whom are women, should benefit from the scheme.
According to the CNSS director-general, Ingrid Awadé, the project will be steered by a commission that regroups the OTR, CAMEG, INAM, and the CNSS itself.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo Cellulaire reviews tariffs after ARCEP’s warning
Shortly after it was imposed a heavy fine by the Togolese Telecom regulatory organ (ARCEP), Togo Cellulaire reviewed its tariffs.
On Feb 25, the ARCEP released a statement reporting the “cessation of differentiation practices relating to on- and off-network basic tariffs, as well as bundles,” by Togo Cellulaire.
Let’s note that if it had failed to comply with the ARCEP’s warning, the telecom company would have, in addition to the main fine it was imposed (over a billion CFA), paid CFA50 million per day every day after the deadline had been passed.
Regarding the fine, Togo Cellulaire has to pay it despite reviewing its tariffs. It, however, avoided the associated penalties.
Klétus Situ
PASA pushed stockbreeders’ income up 50%
Active from 2011 to 2020, the Agriculture Support Project (PASA) helped stockbreeders boost their income by 50%.
The increase is attributable to various actions aimed at improving animal healthcare. In detail, nine vaccination and disinfestation campaigns against the Newscastle disease and ovine rinderpest were carried out under the PASA. Regarding the rinderpest, the program enabled the ratio of ruminants infected with the virus to drop from 14% in 2012 to 4% in 2018. Besides, 3,679 heads of improved small ruminant sires and 5,300 poultry heads were provided to farmers, still under the PASA.
The program also helped tackle structuring and professionalization issues in the husbandry sector. Indeed, the financial and technical support mechanisms introduced by the PASA led to the creation of 482 commercial farms, 2,361 enhanced sheepfold, and 3,309 enhanced chicken coops.
Regarding the production of small ruminants and poultry, for the former, it soared from 250,000 heads when the PASA was launched to 394,240 heads when it closed; for the latter, the output rose from 87,000 to 105,218 heads.
Klétus Situ