Nigeria wants to build a power transmission line that connects it to eight other West African nations, including Togo, according to Ecofin Agency.

“We will have a 330kV line going from Northern Nigeria to Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire”, said Mohammed Gur Usman, Executive Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

“Besides this infrastructure, another line with similar capacity will connect Senegal to Ghana, passing through Guinea Bissau, Mali and Burkina Faso,” he added.

Feasibility studies for both projects have already been launched and procedures have been initiated near relevant ECOWAS entities to ensure the smooth realization of related works.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Yesterday, August 22, the eighth edition of the Adjafi Fair for Young Entrepreneurs opened in Lomé. This year’s edition is themed: “Social Security for an Inclusive Growth of Young African Entrepreneurs.”

With about 22 exhibition stands to visit, promoters expect more than 200,000 visitors at the fair which will end on September 8, 2019. The event also hosts forums, round tables, conferences, exchange meetups, workshops, and trade fairs.

Various institutions and mechanisms supporting youths and business inclusion in Togo will participate in the fair, which it should be recalled registered last year 120,000 visitors.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

In Togo, the Miawodo association plans to open a new incubator to foster the development of small companies respecting the environment. This is a project that benefited from a financing of XOF26 million provided by the French embassy.

The age range for interested applicants is 18-30 years and they should live in Lomé or its surroundings. Also, they should operate in the following sectors: renewable energy, agro-food processing, technological and technical innovations, and waste recycling. Overall, 100 projects will be selected.

This project falls under a bigger one, the PISCCA or Scheme for Innovative Projects developed by the Civil Society and the Actors Coalitions. The latter is also financed by the French embassy (XOF254.6 million).

Applications can be submitted until next September 15, by individuals or groups, who already own a business or just have an idea.

Séna Akoda

Vlisco just relaunched in Togo its contest to select young designers aged between 20 to 30 years. This contest aims at “helping these designers in their professional path in the fashion industry, by boosting their skills and enabling them to have their own brand.”

Selected contestants will get €5000 to fund their growth or invest in new equipment and set up their own fashion studio. They will also benefit from professional training workshops.

Before it launched this year’s edition of the contest, Vlisco, let’s recall, gave some young Togolese designers a project management training.

Last year, the winner of the first prize for the contest was Anoumou Djidjolé Placca.

Séna Akoda

In line with its reform optimization strategy, Togo’s ministry of economy and finance will on August 27, proceed to a national review of public finance reforms implemented at end-June 2019.

Ahead of this review, the action plan for public finance management reform is currently being reviewed, in Lomé.

According to Aharh Kpessou Mongo, Permanent Secretary in Charge of Public Finance Reforms, “reviewing public finance reforms allows to assess revenues mobilized to implement public policies set under the State budget which contributes to the country’s development when well executed.” 

“After the first six months of 2019, this is a necessary exercise,” he added. In the long run, this should help take better measures for better results by the year’s end, in line with the 2019 work plans and annual budget validated at the beginning of the year. Every year, Togo carries out two reviewing sessions of its reforms.

At the start of this week, Togo’s ministry of health and public hygiene organized in Lomé a scientific debate on quality control of drugs in ECOWAS States.

This was in line with the 32nd anniversary of the West Africa Health Organization. The latter was created in Lomé, in 1987, to answer issues related to drug quality, and ensure regional coordination relating to health across the ECOWAS.

Since its establishment, the institution has provided 19 financial facilities, totaling more than XOF400 million.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Last Tuesday, Widezip, a new e-commerce platform was launched in Lomé, Togo.

This is a system that aims to ease online sales of businesses and individuals in the country.

Both the web and app-based platforms list SMEs and SMIs operating in many sectors ; offer online storage service ; sell and buy goods for professionals and individuals, as well as conduct import-export transactions, knowingly from and to the US, Europe, China and Dubai.

“We want to cover from Lomé to Cinkassé, and allow even those living in remote areas to have the same chances as those living in cities,” said Kossi Battah, CEO of the startup which was created in the US in 2016, before coming to Togo.   

Widezip, for its activity, leverages on the rapid democratization of smartphones in the country, paired with a growing number of internet users. The firm also counts on its partnership with more than 300 social media.

Let’s recall the company enters the Togolese market in a context where only 6.6% of the population made online purchases last year.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

At the beginning of this week, an information workshop was held on how to fight fall armyworms in Togo. Present at the session were field agents of the Technical Support and Council Institute (ICAT), which is affiliated to the ministry of agriculture, and some leading producers.

The workshop aimed at teaching how to, using recent technology, detect and fight the worms which feed on maize, rice, sorghum, sugar cane, vegetables and cotton. For example, it was revealed at the meeting that a new app integrating AI is used to detect the pest.

This workshop is planned to be carried out all over the country and is backed by the FAO and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Let’s recall that in 2019, Togo received a grant of $1 million from both institutions, to fight fall armyworms.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Started yesterday, the second edition of the permanent investigation on services trading (EP-CIS 2) will end Today, August 21. 

Steered by the national institute of statistics, economic and demographic studies (INSEED), the operation aims at setting up a database listing all international services transaction, and falls in line with a project to gather data on international services trading in WAEMU States. 

It is also backed by the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Various types of services are concerned by the investigation, including processing, assembling, labelling and input packaging. According to Koamé Kouassi, director general of INSEED, “data collected under the EP-CIS 2 will cover importation and exportation of services by types and partnering country. It will be used in the framework of market studies, preparing and monitoring macroeconomic data as well as economic research and analysis.”   

The first edition of the investigation, which was conducted throughout the month of October 2018, helped identify 349 firms active in the services sector.

Séna Akoda

Only one Togolese out of three has heard of climate change. This was revealed in a survey conducted by Afrobarometer over the 2016-2018 period.

According to the study which covered 33 African countries and assessed how Africans perceive climate change and its impact on humanity, one out of three Togolese (36%) associate climate change with bad weather phenomenon (natural disasters, global warming, heavy rains and their devastating consequences).

While over half of the African population (63%) associate climate change with degrading weather conditions, in West Africa. Togolese are the second after Benin (37%) to believe this.

Over all the 33 nations surveyed, Mauritians, Gabonese and Ugandans are the most aware of the issue. The least informed are Tunisia, Liberia and Mozambique.

In Togo, still according to Afrobarometer, only 19% of the Togolese population, while establishing between climate change and bad weather conditions have not heard of measures to tackle or contain the phenomenon. This reflects efforts implemented by Togolese powers, their technical and financial partners and the civil society to tackle climate change and its effects. Among these is the Anti-Climate Change Programme (PALCC) which benefits from a €10 million funding; about half (€5.5 million) of this sum is distributed to NGOs and the Forest Exploitation and Development Office (ODEF) for community-oriented actions.

Togo, it should be emphasized, is one of the countries on the continent with the least share of the population that has not been sensitized about climate change and its consequences. Indeed, the average in Africa is 29%. Paradoxically, 45% of the Togolese population are not aware of climate change; a concerning figure but still below a peak of 69% in Africa and an average of 43%.

Séna Akoda