The 12th national farmer forum was launched on January 23, 2020, by the minister of agriculture, Noël Bataka. 

The forum is hosted at the Palais des Congrès. Its main focus is agricultural transformation. 

“No more subsistence farming,” declared Bataka after summing up the country’s performances in agriculture in recent years.  

The minister also urged the president of the chamber of commerce and industry, Germain Meba, to get more engaged in local transformation as this would reduce the trade deficit. 

Addressing farmers, he asked them to be more dynamic while reiterating the government’s commitment to keep supporting them, through existing mechanisms. 

The event received delegations from various nations, including Morocco with the Cherifian Phosphate Office (OCP), Israel, China, Germany with its cooperation agency - GIZ, and South Africa. 

A two-day national dialogue to discuss the preservation of forests and the environment was launched on January 22, 2020, in Lomé. 

The talks focused on the rational use of firewood by populations. 

On this occasion, participants shared their respective knowledge of bioenergy to reduce the excessive exploitation of forest resources.   

“Degradation is partly due to firewood use,” said Aboudoussissamilou Issifou, the national coordinator of the Forest and Farmers’ mechanism. “We must think, together, about new sources of energy which will help reduce forest exploitation due to the use of firewood,” he added. 

The long-term goal is, therefore, to bring together researchers (technology), technical and financial partners, so as to find viable and adapted alternatives to firewood. 

The meeting is an initiative of the FAO and the Togolese ministry of environment and sustainable development. It is backed by the German cooperation agency, GiZ. 

It aligns with other initiatives launched by the government to preserve the environment and forests.

R.E.D

For its second operation on the UMOA securities market this year, Lomé will issue fungible Treasury bills, instead of fungible Treasury bonds like it did for the first operation on the regional market. 

However, the amount sought is the same for both operations - XOF25 billion. The proceeds will mainly serve to meet the government’s budgetary needs for 2020. 

The related tender was released on 22 January 2020 by the UMOA-securities agency. 

According to the entity, the bills have a nominal value of XOF10,000, a maturity of three years, for an interest rate of 6.15% per year. The date of value is February 3, 2020. 

Let’s note that this fundraising will close on February 1. It comes a few days after the country’s first, and very successful, operation on the same market.  

Séna Akoda

Togo’s Urban Development and Infrastructure Project (PIDU) is searching for a consultant to develop its website. 

A call for manifestation of interest was launched to this end and it will close on January 29. 

In detail, the hired consultant will research the project, design the website’s template and produce its content, put it online and manage it.

The PIDU was launched more than a year ago. It aims to improve access to modern infrastructure in many Togolese towns such as Lomé, Tsévié, Atakpamé, Kpalimé, Sokodé, Kara, and Dapaong.  

The International Development Association (IDA), which is part of the World Bank, financed the project with XOF16 billion. 

Séna Akoda

Since 22 Jan 2020, smartphone and landline users could not connect to the Internet (3G or 4G) in Togo. 

“Our mobile and landline internet services are seriously affected,” reveals TogoCom, the former State-owned mobile operator. 

The operator attributes the situation to technical issues with submarine cables in Portugal and Spain. 

“All our technical teams are working to rapidly fix the issue,” reassures TogoCom. 

Séna Akoda

Ogar Assurances exited Togo and thus closed its last operation in West Africa. 

The exit comes after a meeting of the regional regulator of insurance markets (CRA). During the meeting, held in December 2019, the regulator retrieved all of Ogar’s accreditations. 

Prior to the ultimate move, the CRA had prohibited the insurer from registering any subscription or renewing expired insurance policies, unless Ogar produced a solid financing plan. This was at a session in Douala, on July 22-27, last year. 

Unfortunately for the insurer, it couldn’t meet this condition and subsequently had to end its activities in West Africa, a market it intended to conquer.

Séna Akoda

CDC Group, UK’s State-owned impact investor, just committed a $20 million investment in the Adiwale Fund I, a private equity fund targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in West Africa. Adiwale Fund I is the first fund raised by Adiwale Partners, a private equity management fund founded by Togolese natives Jean-Marc Savi de Tové and Vissého Gnassounou. 

The announcement was made earlier this week, at the Uk-Africa Investment Summit. 

Besides Adiwale Fund I, CDC Group also invested $19.2 million in Verod Fund III (which is active in Nigeria and Ghana). This makes a total of $39.2 million of commitments announced by the British group to support West African SMEs. 

In detail, Adiwale Fund I will invest mostly in Francophone West Africa, with a focus on Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, and Togo. Financings could vary between $3 million and $10 million. As for Verod Fund III, it will mostly target English-speaking West Africa. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The International Development Association (IDA) will finance works to rehabilitate and asphalt a 3.2km-long road in Kara (450 km from Lomé). 

The works, which are estimated to cost XOF2.6 billion, are part of the Urban Development and Infrastructure Project (PIDU). They are divided into two parts.

The first part spans a distance of 1.5 km and asphalting works will cost XOF1.11 billion. Works for the second, which covers a distance of 1.7 km, will cost XOF1.488 billion. 

The works should be completed over a 12-month period. The two parts will be respectively taken care of by two different consortiums: NECBAPS-EEBTP-EGK and EEBTP-EGK.

The information was disclosed by the ministry of urbanism and housing. 

Séna Akoda