On November 28 and 29, Lomé will host the HCTE-Réussite Diaspora forum. The event which is organized by the ministry of foreign affairs aims at strengthening relations between Togo and its diaspora (about 1.5 million Togolese living outside the country).

At this occasion, all 77 recently elected delegates of the High Council of the Togolese Diaspora (HTCE) will be officially inaugurated. Moreover, the second edition of the Diaspora Awards Night (Nuit des Réussites Diaspora) will be held during the forum.

The HTCE was established to better engage the diaspora, in Africa, Europe, and North America in the country's development. Its delegates who were elected last September are in charge of four regions: Africa (45 delegates), Europe (19), America (6), and Asia-Oceania (7).

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Over the past three quarters, Lomé's airport generated for the State XOF3.54 billion of royalties.

This figure is 168% more than the amount expected by the government under its 2019 finance law (2.1 billion). It is also far above the XOF670 million collected last year over the same year.

In detail, the AIGE paid 1.19 billion in the first two quarters, and 2.35 billion in the third.

Let's recall that over the first five months of 2019, traffic at the airport was estimated at 150,660 arrivals and 95,279 departures. These represent respective increases of 13.3% and 7.8% compared to the year before.

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In Togo, many power facilities will be rehabilitated and reinforced through the power reform and investment project (PRISET).

The works have been divided into two contracts. The first was attributed to STEG INTERNATIONAL SERVICES from Tunisia and the second to ABB TECHNOLOGY from Côte d'Ivoire.
Works to be carried out by the Ivorian should cost around XOF1.7 billion, according to the award notice released by the CEET, Togo's public utility. They cover the rehabilitation of sub-stations.

ABB TECHNOLOGY will have 12 months to complete the works which it should be noted align with the country's electrification strategy to achieve universal access to power by 2030.

Séna Akoda

Applications to the Sustainable Energy Young Enterprises (JEDD in French) are now open.
Eligible to apply are young entrepreneurs who operate in the power sector and have been active for at least two years in any French-speaking sub-Saharan African countries. They have until December 31, 2019, to submit their applications.

The contest is organized by the Francophonie's Institute for Sustainable Development (IFDD), the Energy Generation and the West African Office of the Francophonie's International Organization (OIF).

Through this event, participants will get some media coverage, exposure to investors and other entrepreneurs, speed up their growth, develop fund mobilization strategies, have multiple business opportunities and be monitored by the best experts and partners.

Winners will get the JEED award of the Francophonie. The top three will also get support from their incubation up to when they access investors.

Séna Akoda

The fish port of Lomé which was under rehabilitation restarted operations last Thursday.

Located in Gbétsogbé (east of Lomé), rehabilitation works were covered by a large grant (XOF14.4 billion) from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and about XOF6 billion provided by the Togolese State.

The facility's rehabilitation aims to "improve livelihood of people, their earnings especially, by improving fish quality and cutting down post-harvest losses," said Damtani Ali, Director of Fishery and Aquaculture.

Overall, authorities plan to consolidate nearly 8,000 jobs through this infrastructure. They also anticipate the creation of about 5,000 new jobs (direct and indirect).

Fishery contributes 4.5% of Togo's agricultural GDP and 1.3% of its GDP.

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In 2018, Togo was the largest West African exporter of organic agricultural products to Europe.

According to a report disclosing the information, the country sold 22,123t of these products to the Old Continent last year.
This volume places Togo at the fifth position in Africa and 31st worldwide. In West Africa, it comes before Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Benin (respectively 35th, 36th, 40th, 43rd, 53rd, and 61st worldwide).

In Africa, Egypt exported the most organic agricultural products over the period reviewed, 46,736t. It is followed by Tunisia, Uganda, and South Africa.

Worldwide, China was the first (over 115 countries ranked), with 415,243t exported to the EU in 2018.

According to recent data, organic production employs about 37,000 farmers in Togo, which represents 4.83% of Africans active in this sector. Nearly 40,000 hectares (only 1% of cultivated lands) are dedicated to this type of farming.

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A loan agreement was signed yesterday for the construction of a 65MW combined-cycle Kékéli Efficient power plant. 

The document was inked in Lomé by the BOAD, a group of technical and financial partners, and Kékéli Efficient Power (Eranove Group).  

This signing is a new milestone towards the realization of the project which will cost XOF64 billon. 

Last March, the BOAD announced it would provide Kékéli Efficient Power XOF25 billion in its framework. Three months later, on June 12, Komi Klassou, Togo's Prime Minister, laid the first stone for the infrastructure, on the eve of the first Togo-EU economic forum. 

Séna Akoda

Around 170 suspected terrorists and criminals have recently been arrested near the Togo-Ghana border. The news was disclosed by Ghana's minister for national security, Albert Kan-Dapaah.

Some of the suspects were found with illegal weapons. A total of 108 weapons, including locally-made and foreign single/double-barrelled guns, "without any valid document" were seized.

The arrests fall under a joint security operation between Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo, code-named Koudanlgou III. Under its second phase, in May 2018, 202 people, including suspected terrorists were arrested.

“The exercise is aimed at preventing terrorist activities, illegal resource extraction, drug trafficking, dealing in illicit arms, smuggling, among other transnational crimes,” the Ghanaian minister declared.

It is carried out amid a rise of terrorist threats in the region.

On the sidelines of the Africa Investment Forum held in Johannesburg, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed with the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) agreements for the adhesion of three potential members: Cameroon, Niger, and Togo.

The agreements "will enable these countries to fully benefit from their adhesion to ATI and to greater investments in sectors like agriculture, power, manufacturing, and health," said EIB's deputy president, Ambroise Fayolle. Moreover, "the new cooperation will boost the impact of investment insurance for West Africa's sustainable growth."

According to the EIB, boosting investment insurance will transform both public and private investments in Togo.

The institution, under the new agreements, will cover the countries' integration to the ATI through concessional financing.

Established in 1958, the EIB is the European Union's long term financing institution. It is based in Luxembourg. As for the ATI, it was established in 2001 to provide insurance against political and commercial risks in order to enhance investment and growth in its member States.

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