On April 29-30, a meeting relating to the issue of demarcation between Ghana and Togo’s maritime borders was held.  

“So far, very little progress has been made because we are yet to discuss the quintessence of this issue concerning our maritime borders,” said Stanilas Baba, president of the high council for the Sea and member of the team in charge of negotiating with the Ghanaian party in the matter. “It is therefore time to really start negotiations,” he added after the meeting which proved non-conclusive.

The recent meeting is one of many held over the past year (June, October and December) but were unfruitful. Still, both parties are determined to solve the problem.

Let’s recall that a few months back, tensions related to the challenge arose. It is also important to be precise that the area at the heart of the conflict hosts the East Keta ultra-deep oil block, a site highly coveted by both countries.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Though agriculture is its main driver, Togo’s economy is tertiary not primary, according to data compiled by Togo First and dating from 2015.

In the country, services contributes 59.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) which is estimated at XOF2,935.7 billion (nominal GDP at market prices), shows provisional data released by the BCEAO end-April.

Also, while it has been contracting since 2016, the tertiary sector still is twice the size of the primary sector (26.2%), and four times that of the secondary sector. The latter, it should be noted, is among the least important across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

It should also be emphasized the tertiary sector benefits from agriculture’s dynamism, an industry now oriented towards processing and subsequently creating new niches with value-added.

After Senegal, Togo was in 2018 second in terms of dominant tertiary sector in the WAEMU.

Jus Délice, the recently inaugurated pineapple juice factory in Gbatopé (35km from Lomé) intends to get the ISO 22000 certification.

The information was disclosed by the minister of Trade, Kodjo Adédzé, who indicated that measures should soon be taken to this end.

The certification is an international agrofood standard and would help Jus Délice’s output easily be exported to the European Union where demand for organic juice is relatively high.

While the XOF2 billion factory currently focuses on making organic pineapple juice, it plans to divert to other fruits in the future according to reliable sources.

Séna Akoda

In addition to institutional mechanisms and private initiatives existing, Togocom and the PNUD plan to create incubators based on the Rwandan Klab model. The move aims at boosting employment and fostering entrepreneurship.

“Productive” talks took place last Tuesday between Aliou Dia, PNUD’s resident representative in Togo, and Affoh Atcha-Dedji, director general Togocom.

According to Dia, “private sector plays a major role in job creation and mobile telephony even more so in the process to create incubators for youth in Togo.”

Let’s note that in Rwanda, Klab incubators, the country’s most dynamic, won in December 2017, the TV5Monde innovation prize and from April 28 to 30, this year, its founder, Aphrodice Mutangana, was in Lomé to discuss with young Togolese about the initiative.

Séna Akoda

Last week, Togo’s national social security fund (CNSS) signed with Hôpital américain de Paris a convention under which the latter will manage the Saint Pérégrin hospital whose construction began about two months ago. The agreement was signed by Ingrid Awadé, Director CNSS, and Robert Sigal, MD Hôpital américain de Paris.

Let it be noted that St Pérégrin will in line with the deal benefit from the US hospital’s medical cooperation, strategic and managerial support, teleconsulting, tele-expertise, help in handling medical evacuations and assessing medical offer.

St Pérégrin is a level 4 hospital spanning 6,000 ha. Estimated cost for the infrastructure is CFA17 billion and its construction is expected to take 12 months. The site will have a 4-star hotel and an helipad.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi 

In the last 25 years, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) injected more than six billion CFA in Togo’s agricultural sector. The figure was obtained from data released by the representative resident of the WAEMU commission, Assoukou Raymong Kripeu, and other data compiled by Togo First.

According to the commission’s representative, out of the sum mentioned, 3.6 billion was used to build grain harvest and storage warehouses in order to improve Togo’s food security, by securing agricultural output and seeds. An additional CFA62.5 million was provided to produce, certify and supply grain seeds; CFA1.1 billion for multipurpose hydraulic facilities; about 730 million to organize vaccination campaigns against anthrax; 525 million for the structuring of the rice and maize sectors; and 50 million for crop preservation.

Besides these, some part of the funds was used to dig four water boreholes and the commission currently works to set up a regional agricultural information system (SIAR) which is a platform on which the country’s agricultural data will be posted.

Séna Akoda

To provide Togo’s private sector with more performant tools and means, a two-day workshop was started April 29, 2019 in Lomé. In effect, the workshop assesses a strategic document to revitalize this sector.

This strategy will serve as a macroeconomic monitoring guide for actions aimed at fostering the private sector, said Kodjo Adedze (photo), minister of the private sector. It will list “actions undertaken by the government, technical and financial partners.”

The document has four axes, namely: improving the business climate and boosting investments, business growth, capacity-building, and public-private dialogue reinforcement.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo’s Revenue Office (OTR) just released on its website the registry of firms that are fiscally up-to-date.

This release aims at informing business owners about their status in regards to tax payment and firms absent from the registry are those that are yet to have settled all their taxes.

These firms are urged to pay their dues or risk “a 15% levy on customary values of their imports, as imposed by the law.”

Séna Akoda