Togo First
Togo: Government has implemented almost all the reforms it projected to improve public finances in 2018
Almost all 97 reforms projected in relation to the country’s public finances have been carried out or are underway. This was revealed on Monday during a session to review the reforms.
“In 2018, we planned 97 reforms, out of which 54 have been effectively implemented, 34 are underway and 9 yet to be initiated,” said Dedji Affoh, Division Chief at the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
This represents a completion rate of 90.7% which is a clear improvement compared to the previous year where it stood at 83%, according to the official.
Beside assessing progress made with reforms initiated in 2018, the review session aims at identifying Togo’s strengths and weaknesses relating to public finances and finding new reforms to implement in 2019-2021.
Next month, a similar session will be held alongside another to validate a unified matrix for the 2019-2021 reforms, work plans and budgets.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
University of Lomé hosts 10,000 Codeurs Togo, a meeting showcasing employment opportunities in the digital sector
The University of Lomé is currently hosting the “10,000 Codeurs Togo” meeting.
The event’s theme is “digital professions: a path leading to the empowerment of Togolese youth.” It is organized by 10,000 Codeurs, a network of individuals active in the digital industry who help young Africans get jobs in this sector.
The network in Togo hopes to be backed by the ministry of posts, digital economy and technological innovations.
10,000 Codeurs operates already in Senegal, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
MSC to invest €500 million in Lomé’s Container Terminal over the next decade
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), world’s second largest shipowner, plans to invest €500 million in the Lomé Container Terminal in which it holds a stake, over the next decade. This was revealed to Jeune Afrique by MSC’s new managing director, Ammar Kanaan.
“The port is running very well. Our productivity on the docks keeps growing every year and has now made Lomé one of our most dynamic terminals,” says Kanaan.
With this investment, MSC aims at increasing the port’s annual container traffic to four million, in line with the first axis of the country’s national development plan.
Let’s recall that in 2017, the port of Lomé, which is the only deep water port in West Africa, became the region’s leading port, outpacing Lagos’ with a container traffic exceeding a million TEU (Dynamar).
Togo : Culture Promotion Fund to spend XOF600 million on 250 cultural projects
Out of 979 listed projects, 250 have been selected to be financed by the Culture Promotion Fund (FAC) this year. Just like last, the projects which were submitted by various cultural associations will benefit from a CFA600 million facility.
In detail, the performing arts projects will get CFA274 million or 46% of the planned budget. Next are film and audiovisual productions which will get CFA104.5 million, while the heritage and visual arts projects are to respectively be allocated CFA66.8 million and CFA59 million. Last are national and international events which will be attended by Togolese. Thirty million has been allocated to this group.
The funds provided by public authorities aim at helping Togo’s culture emerge, fully.
Séna Akoda
France is completely opened to a reform of the Franc zone, but….
“We are completely opened to a deep reform of the CFA, however it is up to the States to decide.” This was declared by France’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire after meeting with Niger's president, Issoufou Mahamadou on the sidelines of a meeting between the Franc Zone’s ministers of finances, held in Niamey on March 27-28, 2019.
According to these ministers, the zone provides stability and helps tackle inflation. Considering this, a deep reform of the Franc Zone may not occur any soon.
This is in a context where two out of three Togolese think the CFA should be replaced, according to a study released by Afrobaromètre last February.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
AFDB injects €12.5M into Adiwale Partners Co to support SMEs’ development in francophone West Africa
The African Developent Bank (AfDB) has approved a €12.5 million financing in first generation private equity fund Adiwale Fund 1. The information was revealed by the pan-African institution in a statement issued last Thursday.
“The Bank’s investment in Adiwale Fund 1 will improve financing options and SMEs capacities in French-speaking West Africa,” said Alhassane Haidara, head of industries and non-sovereign services at the AfDB.
The recently approved financing will first profit Côte d’Ivoir, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali and then Togo, Benin and Guinea.
Adiwale Fund 1 was co-founded in 2016 by two Togolese citizens, Jean-Marc Savi de Tové and Vissého Gnassounou. It targets SMEs with a high potential in the French-speaking part of West Africa. Its transactions’ volume ranges between three and eight million euros according to the AfDB and it has capitalization of €75 million.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: ANSAT to, from now on, pay farmers cooperatives via bank accounts for their yield surpluses
From now on, the national agency for food security (ANSAT) will pay grain farmers their production via bank accounts.
“We have put in place a new procedure that involves prior stock declaration. In effect, ANSAT agents will visit the farmers to check the stock’s quality, after which the money will be wired to the cooperative’s account,” said Napo Gnofam, Sales Head at ANSAT.
This is a major change knowing that previously the ANSAT agents had to go through the whole nation to purchase the yield. The reform which aims at fostering farmers’ financial inclusion aligns with the current purchasing campaign’s theme, namely: the bancarization of cooperatives.
Séna Akoda
Pan-African firm Liquid Telecom eyes Togolese market
Liquid Telecom, subsidiary of Zimbabwean group Econet Wireless, could soon enter the Togolese market.
Last Monday, the group announced in Kigali, at the Africa CEO Forum, which was attended by a Togolese delegation led by President Gnassingbé himself.
If Liquid Telecom succeeds in entering Togo, it would be its first step in West Africa. However it will be the country’s fourth Internet Service Provider (ISP) after Togo Telecom, Vivendi Africa and Teolis.
Founded in 1997, Liquid Telecom is currently the largest pan-African optical fiber operator with a network spanning more than 70,000 km going from Cape town to Cairo.
Octave A. Bruce
Cotton: WAEMU to soon have a regional consultation framework?
In the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), actors of the cotton sector wish to put in place a regional consultation framework. This was revealed during an exchange workshop held in Ouagadougou regarding the sector’s structuring in the region.
According to Zourata Lompo-Ouedraogo, cabinet director of Jonas Gbian, head of agriculture, water resources and environment of the WAEMU commission, putting this framework in place is necessary. “Cotton is the main source of revenue for more than 15% of households in the region and it employs almost 70% of its active population in rural areas,” she said.
“It also creates many direct and indirect jobs across all economic sectors and helps fight poverty while contributing to the development of other agricultural sectors,” Lompo-Ouedraogo added.
However, she then emphasized, “boosting cotton output and making the sector more competitive requires that it is better structured, in both the member States and in the region as a whole.”
The above-mentioned workshop was organized to achieve this goal, among others. It began March 27 and will end March 29.
Séna Akoda
Togo-EU economic forum: Hundred projects will be picked and financed by European investors
A total of hundred projects will be financed in the framework of the coming Togo-EU economic forum next June 13-14.
The call for the projects was recently launched on forumtogo-ue.tg, the website dedicated to the event.
The projects cover sectors such as agrofood and agriculture, bank and insurance, construction and related equipment, trade, services and enterprises, transport and logistics.
Selected applicants will have their capacities reinforced to properly sell their projects to European investors.
Also, those interested in attending the forum must register online (registration fee is €77). Four hundred participants, including 150 European business actors are expected at the event.
Séna Akoda