Togo First
MIFA teams up with African Guarantee Fund to boost agricultural sector in Togo
The agricultural financing incentive mechanism (MIFA) and the African Guarantee Fund West Africa signed on July 2, 2019, in Lomé a partnership agreement to establish a fund aimed at further increasing financing to actors of the agricultural sector.
The signing took place in the presence of Minister of agriculture, Noel Koutéra Bataka. The fund is baptized “MIFA’s guarantee fund for agricultural actors.”
The new agreement will enable both parties involved to contribute to the formalization and establishment of portfolio guarantees covering 50% of amounts needed for projects submitted by MIFA S.A to partnering financial institutions.
Additionally, individual guarantees will be put in place for MIFA-backed actors and those seeking funding from MIFA’s partnering finance institutions.
“The partnership that AGF signed with MIFA directly aligns with our strategy for the coming years and it is a unique opportunity to boost Togo’s agriculture which is currently facing structural changes,” said Adidjatou Zanouvi, Managing Director AGF West Africa. “With it”, he adds, “we will help ease and gradually improve the share of bank loans to the agricultural sector; an increase that will substantially impact Togo’s economic growth and the sector itself.”
WAEMU: CRRH-UEMOA listed last week its eighth bond on the BRVM
WAEMU’s regional mortgage refunding fund (CRRH-UEMOA) listed exactly one week ago its eighth bond, on the regional stock market, BRVM.
The operation helped raise a total of XOF30.2 billion between 30 October 2018 and January 15, 2019. The proceeds will be used to refund outstanding housing loans provided by banks that hold shares in CRRH-UEMOA.
The bond issuance, BRVM’s managing director Edoh Kossi Amenouve says, makes “CRRH-UEMOA one of the stock’s regular and major issuers.” This regularity according to him “confirms the relevance of the fund and the key role it plays in facilitating access to housing for people across the WAEMU.”
CRRH-UEMOA helps people access housing loans by providing banks with cash. It is based in Lomé, Togo.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Lomé-based Oragroup increased its capital to XOF69.415 billion
Pan-African banking group Oragroup recently raised its capital to XOF69.415 billion, thus adding XOF6.097 billion to its initial capital. The new capital, the group indicates, is divided into 69,415,031 shares with a nominal value of XOF1000 per share.
From October 29 to November 22, 2018, the Lomé-based group had proceeded to an Initial Public Offering issuing 6,097,561 new shares and selling 7,785,445 existing shares at XOF4100 per share.
In the process, it raised on the regional financial market XOF56.92 billion. The operation was fully subscribed and this was the largest IPO ever recorded on the stock market.
According to Binta Touré Ndoye, former managing director of the group, “the fundraising will help us invest in digital banking, seize opportunities to expand in Central Africa, and boost the Group’s reputation among the people and the financial community, as well as boost equity of some subsidiaries.”
Séna Akoda
Togo chairs African Union Security and Peace Council this month
Since July 1, 2019, Togo started chairing the African Union Security and Peace Council, sources close to the union revealed.
The country’s chairmanship which will close on July 31, 2019, will focus on issues related to maritime security, safety and development in Africa.
Regarding safety issues, Toba Sébadé, Representative of the African Union in Togo, will discuss conflict management and settlement with representatives of the 15 member-States of the council.
Next July 16, a meeting will be held to review the implementation of decisions taken at Maritime Safety and Security Summit held in Lomé in October 2016.
Togo’s mandate will be dedicated to light weapons trafficking across Africa, as well as the use of cluster munitions and land mines in populated areas. Sexual abuses in times of conflict will also be discussed.
Togo’s chairmanship will end with a field mission led jointly by the ECOWAS and the African Union, in Gambia, to help with the post-conflict reconstruction process in the country.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs launches a High Council for the Diaspora
Togo’s minister of foreign affairs, Robert Dussey, just launched today, July 2, the High Council for the Togolese Diaspora (HCTE in French). This is a few months after he released the Togolese Diaspora Roadmap.
The new council, the official declares, “will represent the Togolese diaspora, and will serve mainly as a place for exchange and mutual trust with the government.”
Its launch marks a new step towards achieving its goal of mobilizing the diaspora to tackle obstacles to development.
The decision was driven by a constant growth over the past years of remittances from the diaspora, most of which serves recipients, friends and families.
Within the same framework of the newly launched council, a week for diaspora successes was initiated. Other measures included visa exemption for Togolese with dual citizenship and the creation of a website specifically designed for the diaspora.
Séna Akoda
On July 3, Oranbank Togo will reveal its new online banking platform, KEAZ
Tomorrow, July 3, Orabank-Togo will launch KEAZ, its brand new digital platform.
The platform “aims at allowing all strata of the population to access the bank’s services,” in the simplest form possible.
Among main services that will be provided on KEAZ is Internet Banking for individuals and businesses. It will also be possible to access the multipurpose counter enabling cash deposit, withdrawals without card, update of customer and account details.
“KEAZ users will be able to carry out all transactions safely via internet from their mobile phones, tablets and computers, and also through the MY KEAZ app available on Google Play and App Store. KEAZ will replace Ora@net, the bank’s current online banking platform.”
Séna Akoda
Togo plans on opening a transport and logistics training centre
Soon, Togo should have its first transport and logistics center, credible sources indicate.
The initiative falls under a project to make logistics services more competitive for trade promotion. It also aligns with the first axis of the country’s national development plan (PND) which aims at making Togo a first-class business centre in the region and a reference logistics hub.
It will help tackle the key issues that are the training-job mismatch, unemployment and underemployment, which impedes the country’s development.
Besides the training centre, the project will also lead to the construction of new offices at the headquarters of the Road and Railway Transport Directorate (DRTF).
Séna Akoda
Togo : Public debt less exposed to foreign exchange risk, Ministry of finance says
At the end of December last year, Togo’s public debt was XOF2,191 billion according to a recent report released by the Ministry of Finance. This is nearly 74% of the country’s GDP.
The national public debt committee which wrote the report indicates that 73% of this debt is denominated in the local currency while 27.% is in foreign currency. According to the document’s author, this makes the debt less exposed to exchange rate risk.
However, the committee notes that while the risk is minimal, “external debt portfolio is still influenced by the fluctuations of some currencies like the US dollar (32%), the Yuan (27%) and Special Drawing Rights or SDR (21%).” Hence, a too high depreciation of the US dollar against the Euro could augment medium-term debt.
“A 30% depreciation of the dollar against the Euro would deviate debt-to-GDP ratio from an estimate of 59.89% in 2023 to 63.91%,” reads the report.
Regarding outstanding domestic debt, denominated in the local currency, it stood at XOF1,597.8 billion at the end of December 2018. Meanwhile, external debt, denominated in foreign currencies, was valued at XOF593.2 billion.
By 2023, in line with Togo’s medium-term debt strategy, external debt should constitute about 45% of public debt whereas domestic debt would represent the remaining 55%.
Public Securities: Ecobank is now Togo’s leading primary dealer
On July 1, 2019, the UMOA-Titres agency released its rankings of best Primary Dealers of treasury securities. In depth, the rankings looked at the countries participation in issuances, how engaged they are on the secondary market and how good is their collaboration with national treasuries.
Primary dealers are the only ones allowed to directly take part in issuances conducted by the Public Security Market. They are also in charge of animating the secondary market, advising and assisting States with issuance policies. In the WAEMU, there are 29 of them, 23 banks and six brokerage firms, all of which were ranked in UMOA-Titres’ index.
In Togo, Ecobank is now the leading primary dealer, a position it stripped from Orabank. The latter is followed by Coris Bank, Bank of Africa (BOA) and State-owned lender UTB which is being privatized. UTB, it should be emphasized, is one of the very few primary dealers to finance public securities in the union’s other member-States without being implanted in these countries.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Government commits to give particular attention to all projects submitted, both selected and non - selected
At the recently held Togo-EU forum in Lomé, 141 projects (out of 407 submitted) were deemed bankable and secured XOF852 billion worth of commitments from investors.
There will be a continuous follow-up of the projects, assured both the government and the European Union and while the latter says it will make sure all selected projects get funding, Germain Mèba, president of Togo’s chamber of commerce and industry (CCIT) calls out to local banks to get involved.
For his part, minister of trade, Kodjo Adedze, added that particular attention will still be given to all 266 projects which were not selected during the forum as he believes they have the potential to create wealth and jobs, in line with the country’s national development plan.
Séna Akoda