Togo First
Lomé to host Afromarketers days for the second time this year
Come November 6th and 7th, 2019, Lomé will host, for the second time, the Afromarketers days.
The announcement was made by the event’s promoter, Kossi Assiobo (photo). On this occasion, he declared: “Seeing how the digital world is getting more and more complex, marketing, communication, and internet professionals must be aware of latest tech and marketing innovations, going from social selling, e-reputation, to responsive web design, inbound marketing, social advertising, etc.”
Just like for the first edition which took place last June, this new edition will host workshops and debates; the only exception, however, will be an awards ceremony for Afromarketers.
Currently, in Cotonou in the framework of the Afromarketers tour, Kossi Assiobo will next head to Ouagadougou before finally coming to the Togolese capital.
Séna Akoda
A traceability system to be soon established in pineapple, cashew and shea nut value chains
Togo intends, according to a document from the UN Industrial Development Organization, to establish a traceability system in the pineapple, cashew, and shea nut value chains.
The project aims at ensuring that Togolese outputs meet international certification standards, and subsequently ramp up agro-food exports, especially in the previously mentioned sectors which have great potential for export.
A call for submission of interest has actually been launched to hire a national consultant and expert in infrastructure quality.
The country let’s recall is working to become an agro-food processing hub, and to this end focuses on making local agro-food businesses more competitive. The announced measure also directly aligns with this goal.
Séna Akoda
Upon the fifth review of the extended credit facility (ECF) program, IMF says it is satisfied with reforms implemented by Togo
“If current reforms are sustained in the second half of 2019, Togo will, for the third consecutive year, meet WAEMU’s 3% standard for budget deficit.” This was declared by the latest IMF delegation in Togo, at a press conference held in the framework of its fifth review of the extended credit facility (ECF), on Sept. 10, 2019.
The conference was co-hosted by Togo’s minister of economy and finance, Sani Yaya, and Ivohasina Fizara Razafimahefa, head of the IMF delegation. On this occasion, the Fund said it is satisfied with Togo’s performances.
Public debt, though presently below 70% of GDP, according to official data, is expected to rise to 73% by the end of this year. This includes debts of State-owned companies (excluding those, the debt is forecasted at 70.9%.
Concerning growth, the Bretton Woods institution expects it will stand at 5.3% in 2019, and 5.5% in 2020, while the government projects it will reach 5.6%. Well, both parties agree that economic activity will sustain the dynamism it recorded last year.
The next review of the IMF’s ECF program with Togo will commence next December.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: Fairgrounds organized across the country to provide certificate of nationality and Category A driving licenses
The Delegation for Informal Sector’s Organization (DOSI), in partnership with the citizenship directorate, organizes fairgrounds to provide a citizenship certificate to nationals who do not have one.
The campaign aims at “easing the obtention of this important document and most importantly deliverance of driving licenses to taxi-bike drivers.” Officially, the operation’s main concern is to reduce the alarming number of road accidents in Togo, especially those involving motorcyclists which are the most numerous.
“The fairgrounds which will take place from September 10 to October 2, also aims at helping users easily get category A driving licenses which has been made compulsory by public authorities,” sources at the DOSI reveal.
In Lomé, the campaign is taking place in front of Hotel 2 Février and will end on September 12. Then, from September 26 to 28, the fairgrounds will take place in Kara, and next in Sokodé, on Sept 30- Oct. 2.
Séna Akoda
CNSS urges employers, school founders, and directors notably, to register their employees
Togo’s national social security fund (CNSS) urges employers, especially school directors and founders, to get their employees registered. It also reminded them of the importance of paying, in full, their due social security contributions (respectively 17% and 4% for employers and employees).
“The registration of companies and their employees is a legal obligation and fundamental right consecrated by convention 102 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the universal declaration of human rights, Togolese constitution and social security code,” the fund recalls.
The reminder follows a control that revealed irregularities regarding staff size and figures used to determine social security contribution base.
Following its control, the CNSS found that school founders and directors are those failing the most in the obligation of paying social security contributions.
“Employers must register at the CNSS within a period of eight (8) days starting from the day they open or acquire their institution. It is also compulsory, under law, for the employer to declare all employees, regardless of the nature, form, validity of the contract binding them, and the wage paid. Therefore, all teachers or lecturers, permanent, independent or temporary, without exception must be declared at the CNSS,” the public institution further indicated.
Séna Akoda
Togo: It is now possible to submit requests for modification and dissolution of businesses online
After launching a platform that enables online business establishment, Togo’s Business Formality Centre (CFE) has reached a new milestone by allowing, using the same platform, online submission of requests to amend and dissolute a business.
The information was just disclosed by the minister of trade, industry, private sector development and local consumption promotion.
Economic operators can pay for the concerned services via mobile money (T-Money and Flooz) and other channels such as MasterCard or Visa.
The new development is part of “reforms implemented to improve Togo’s business environment,” the minister said. These reforms, let it be recalled, enabled Togo to rise 19 places in the latest Doing Business report, from 156th to 137th.
Séna Akoda
Africa-Indian Ocean: Representatives of civil aviation meet in Lomé to discuss runway security in the region
Many civil aviation representatives, from Africa and the Indian Ocean, are currently in Lomé to share their experience and knowledge, to make tarmacs safer in these two geographical zones.
Organized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US agency regulating and monitoring civil aviation, the meeting aims at identifying security risks relative to runway incursions at airports.
Besides, participants will leverage their mutual skills and knowledge to make sure all countries in the two above-mentioned zones achieve standards that align with recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Elimination of the concerned risks, according to Col. Dokissime Gnama Lata, MD of Togo’s national civil aviation agency (ANAC), requires taking “adequate measures, such as having a fenced, safe and secure runway, qualified staff and implementing strict protocols between airport’s various departments.”
Let’s note that out of all 144 countries of the Africa-Indian Ocean region, only 30, Togo included, presently meet ICAO’s runway security standards.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Cameroon's Bellomar Learning expands to Togo
Cameroon-based multipurpose web platform and incubator, Bellomar Learning, has expanded to Togo. The firm recently announced on its official website.
The platform thus enters Togo through its partner, VPS Inter Sarlu, which is now the sole distributor of its products and services in the West African nation. This is the fifth partnership reached by Bellomar Learning in the past three months, the latest having enabled the educational firm to establish itself in Congo Brazzaville.
Bellomar Learning provides courses mostly in industrial chemistry, with a focus on soaps and detergents, but also in other areas like agribusiness, agriculture, cosmetics and waste recycling.
VPS Inter Sarlu, the firm’s new local partner in Togo, is headed by Abel Essey (alumni of the Tony Elumelu Foundation entrepreneurship program). The company specializes in agricultural engineering and engineering training.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
UMOA-securities: Togo maintains streak of successful fundraisings on regional market with latest operation
Togo records another successful fundraising on the regional financial market. Indeed, Umoa-securities revealed last Friday that the country had mobilized close to XOF48.5 billion on this market through its latest issuance of fungible treasury bonds.
While the amount is impressive, Togo, which was seeking XOF20 billion via the operation, retained XOF22 billion. These monies, the regional agency indicated, will be utilized by the public treasury to finance part of its management budget for 2019.
Nominal value for each security subscribed is XOF10,000. Interest payment (6.5% per year) will commence today, Sept. 9 and extend till September 9, 2024.
It should be recalled that all Togo’s operations on the regional financial market since Q2 2019 have been successful.
Séna Akoda
Banque Atlantique's mobile app now available in all WAEMU states, Togo included
Togolese clients of Banque Atlantique, which belongs to Morocco’s Banque centrale populaire (BCP), can now conduct their transactions online from their mobile devices.
Indeed, the lender, WAEMU’s third largest bank by market shares, announced in a recent communiqué that its mobile app, “Atlantique Mobile”, was now available in all WAEMU’s Francophone countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The app can be downloaded on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. In effect, with it, users can manage both their accounts and bank cards safely, in addition to traditional operations (consulting, withdrawal, deposits).
With its app, “Banque Atlantique becomes the first lending institution within the WAEMU to offer a completely free, user-focused app, with amazing features such as facial recognition or card cap modification,” said Kamal MOKDAD, Managing Director of the bank.