Today, Victoire Sidemeho Tomegah-Dogbe, minister of youth, has begun a two-day tour to review progress made relative to the Project Supporting the Employment and Insertion of Youth in Promising Sectors (PAEIJ-SP). 

The operation covers the coastal and plateaux regions and will enable the minister and the team that coordinates the project to gather feedback from the project's beneficiaries. This would help them identify keys to their success as well as challenges the project faces.

Subsequently, it will be amended if required to ensure optimal impact.  

Some of the firms which the minister and her delegation will meet include AGROKOM, GOLD FOOD AFRICA, VIOTO BUSINESS, and AUDELA. 

Let's recall that in February 2018, XOF360 million of loans had been provided by two processing firms and four aggregators while XOF48 million were provided to farmers' associations and primary producers. 

Séna Akoda

A total of XOF1.2 billion will be spent on 11 community projects benefiting populations that are often exposed to coastal erosion issues.  

Among others, the projects will cover sustainable land management and the rehabilitation of small public infrastructures damaged by floods.

The related financing agreement was signed at the end of last week, by the minister of environment, sustainable development and preservation of nature, Oladokoun David Wonou. 

The facility falls in line with the West Africa Coast Resilience Investment Project (WACA, RESIP). In the latter's framework, Togo is backed by the World Bank and the Global Environment Fund (GEF).

The Informal Sector Organization's Delegation (DOSI) holds, starting today, Open Houses across the whole country. 

To take place in capital districts (Dapaong, Kara, Sokodé, Atakpamé, Kpalimé, Tsévié, and Lomé) specifically, the open houses aim at better informing informal operators of DOSI's existence and services. 

"The event should cover topics such as requirements to meet to receive an entrepreneurship training, support for creating a business, support for getting administrative documents," declared Mazmessoh Assih, State Secretary in charge of Financial inclusion and the Informal Sector. 

The open houses should begin in Dapaong. 

Séna Akoda

Beyond CFA4,000 billion. That is how much studies and construction works for the rail loop, that will connect WAEMU States, will cost.  

This was revealed last Thursday in Abidjan, by Paul Koffi Koffi, the commissioner in charge of community land-use planning and transports within WAEMU. This was during a meeting regrouping ministers of transport of the union. 

According to the Ivorian commissioner, the infrastructure should help boost trade between concerned States (currently at 12%-14% only), lower costs of transportation, and make these countries more competitive, in regards to international trade. 

Let's recall that this major project should connect five West African capitals (Abidjan-Ouagadougou-Niamey-Cotonou -Lomé), and span 3,034 km, including 1,946 km that is to be rehabilitated and 1,088 km to be built. 

Next November 15 and 16, Lomé will host the first edition of its Young Entrepreneurs Fair. 

Placed under the theme "Entrepreneurship: How to move from dreams to reality?" this fair will be held at Canal Olympia Godopé. It aims to boost entrepreneurship by showcasing opportunities for business in the digital and new technology sector, marketing and communication, culture, agro-food, energy, and training. 

Those with projects will also attend training workshops on this occasion. These will include teaching them techniques to elaborate on a business model, and how to establish a business network for startups and project carriers seeking financing. 

The fair will enable experience sharing between the young entrepreneurs, with various success-stories shared, all in order to motivate the youth to follow the same steps. 

At the ministers' council held last Wednesday, the government of Togo approved a new policy to improve the regulation of norms and quality. 

The National Quality Policy (PNQ in French) as it is called is a document that aims to put the quality and standards of local products on par with international requirements. It also should lead to the creation of an appropriate framework, to develop and run "an infrastructure of acceptable, pertinent and efficient quality." 

The new policy covers all development sectors and will focus on building a culture of quality at the levels of populations, and both public and private entities, while protecting the consumers and the environment, ensuring that local goods and services meet market standards. In the long run, it should help create a national system for measuring. 

Its adoption, let's emphasize, falls under a regional motion for the harmonization of quality. 

Production at the Nayega manganese mine should begin in Q1 2020 with a nominal capacity of 6,500 t per month, Ecofin Agency reports citing Keras Group which owns the mine through Société Générale des Mines (SGM), its subsidiary. 

The miner indeed announced last Wednesday that it is concluding with the Togolese ministry of mines the ancillary paperwork related to its operating permit for the Nayega project. This should be done by the end of the year. 

"Our strategy (...) has been validated, and without investing any further capital we can now transition from explorer to producer," said in this regard, Keras CEO Russel Lamming. 

Let it be recalled that the Togolese government had recently granted SGM a large-scale operating license for the Nayeya manganese deposit (Western Kpendjal prefecture). Exploration has revealed that the mine holds a reserve of nearly 8.5 million tons of manganese, for an estimated lifecycle of 15 years.