Togo’s new fishing port, in Gbetsogbe-Baguida (about 10km from Lomé), is officially operational.

It was inaugurated by President Gnassingbé yesterday, as part of activities planned in line with the independence celebrations.

The port was co-financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Togolese State, official sources indicate. The former provided XOF14.46 billion and the latter XOF6.23 billion. Construction works began in August 2017.

With a capacity of 300 barks, the new facility should compensate for the 30% reduction of the old fishing port’s basin, as well as contraction of the bark-parking space resulting from works to boost capacities of the port of Lomé.

With the new port, 8,000 jobs should be consolidated and 5,000 jobs, direct and indirect, created. 

Moreover, according to the ministry of agriculture, animal production and fishery, the infrastructure will foster the integration of artisanal fishing sales to the blue economy, improve quality of derived products and revenues of related actors, among others.

Togo’s annual fishery output is expected to rise to 25,000 tons. The sub-sector let it be recalled, represents about 4% of the country’s agricultural GDP and 1% of its total GDP. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Businesswomen in West Africa lose 38% of their profits and 34% of their monthly turnover, compared to their male counterparts. This was revealed in a recent study by the World Bank discussed at the first-ever regional financing initiative in support of businesswomen, in Côte d’Ivoire.

The situation is due to some challenges and barriers preventing women from fully participating in the economy. These include for example “access to financing, markets, technology and support or capacity-strengthening programmes.”

During the regional initiative a joint call-to-action targeting public and private actors was issued so that significant reforms and measures are rapidly taken to pull down barriers hindering the emergence of businesswomen.  

In addition, governments were urged to initiate political and regulatory reforms to improve these women’s access to financial services, public markets and infrastructures related to the digital economy. Also, the meeting’s participants asked for roadblocks impairing the activity and mobility of businesswomen as well as equal ownership rights to be quickly removed.

In this framework, Togo plans to have, by 2020, 28% of women-entrepreneurs and provide access to credit to 44% of its women population.

Séna Akoda

On April 23, 2019, President Faure Gnassingbé inaugurated a new concrete-reinforcing rods factory in Kara, Northern Togo.

The facility which is estimated to have cost CFA4.1 billion spans five hectares in the Kara free zone. Baptized Steel Cube Togo (SCT), it was built by Indian firm HCURE IMPEX LLP. According to Agence togolaise de presse (ATOP), the plant has a production capacity of 3,000 tons per month and uses 4,500 tons of scrap metal; 70% of its production will be exported. It will create 400 direct jobs and 800 indirect ones.  

Tiwari N'ripandra Oumar, MD Steel Cube Togo, said HCURE IMPEX LLP plans to build a paper package factory in Togo.  

The inauguration took place in the framework of the upcoming Togolese independence anniversary next April 27. More inaugurations and launches will follow in the period.  

In 2020, Togo will no more rely on a means-based budget rather opting for a programme-based one. The shift aims at improving the State’s performances towards achieving its goals.

The measure was taken during a meeting, called by the Ministry of Economy, on April 23, in Lomé. The latter regrouped various officials such as general secretaries and directors, and department chiefs to get them acquainted with the new budget format, its implementation, as well as mistakes to avoid while dispatching budgetary actions and programs to various ministries.

The “State budget for 2020 will be presented and adopted based on specific” programmes, instead of means which is the current format as the latter “has shown limitations,” declared Patoki Badanam, secretary general, ministry of economy.

The decision let’s emphasize aligns with public finance reforms undertaken in the member-States of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), but also with the Economic Governance Support Project (PAGE) which is backed by the European Union and the World Bank.

For 2019, the government, let it be recalled, presented two types of budget to the parliament.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The World Bank just greenlit a $224.7 million financing to help BOAD and ECOWAS expand access to off-grid power across 19 countries, in West Africa and Sahel, therefore including Togo.

The funds fall under the off-grip power regional project. Most of these, $150 million, will be in the form of loans and grants from the International Development Association (IDA) while the remaining $74.7 million will be provided as a subsidy from Clean Technology Fund. Funds secured by the ECOWAS will be directed to its center for renewable energy and energy efficiency (ECREEE).   

Most of the funds will serve to improve power access by households, businesses and public institutions, “through a harmonized regional approach to deploy modern autonomous solar systems.” At least 1.7 million people are currently lacking access to electricity or with a poor access.

“So far, only 3% of households in West Africa and Sahel use domestic solar systems while there are still 208 million people with no access to power in the region. This project will help decision-makers lower barriers to enable the creation of a regional market for such equipment needed to reduce energy insufficiency in the region,” said Rachid Benmessaoud (photo), coordination head of regional integration in West Africa.

Countries that will mainly benefit from the funding are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo.

A total of 61,000 households from 585 villages spread across Togo’s 209 poorest districts will receive over two years, a quarterly subsidy of XOF15,000. This is part of the government’s social nets and basic services project (Filets Sociaux et Services de Bases or FSB in French) launched last December, and funded by the State and the World Bank.

The new campaign was launched April 23 at Timbou, in Cinkassé, by President Gnassingbé, in the framework of the independence celebrations, next April 27^th.

This year, XOF4.32 billion is allocated to the FSB, XOF3 billion from the World Bank and XOF1.32 billion from the State. These monies will serve to meet “needs for food, health, school fees, and some as well will serve build a fund that will finance businesses,” said the Presidency assuring that beneficiaries were picked based on a thorough survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics, Economics and Demographic Studies (INSEED).

The Technical Support Council Institute of Kara (ICAT-Kara) is holding a working session related to the Kara agropole project.

The training, according to reliable sources, will teach staff deployed on the field, how to identify sites for agricultural cooperation and technical centres as well as production blocks that are part of the Kara agropole.

This session follows a vast tour led by the project’s coordinators and Noël Bataka, minister of agriculture, across various communities of the Kara region. The tour’s purpose was to inform the people of this region about the various job and development opportunities that the project will generate.

 Séna Akoda