During the three months of health emergency declared in Togo, the government will spend more than XOF5 billion to provide electricity to some power users. 

Beneficiaries are prepaid and postpaid low tension users, thus 340,000 households in the country. According to the ministry of energy who revealed details about the measure, the State should provide the power utility, CEET, XOF1.7 billion monthly throughout the emergency period. 

The measure is to be effective today, April 13, 2020, and beneficiaries will all get XOF4,760 (for 40kWh) as power credit. Prepaid users will get the credit in advance and for postpaid users, the amount will be deducted from their total consumption for the month. 

Séna Akoda

The High Authority for the Fight against Corruption and Related Infringements (HAPLUCIA) calls on young and female Togolese entrepreneurs to support its anti-corruption actions.

As part of a public awareness campaign, entrepreneurs are called to print out advertising messages that will be displayed on giant 12m² billboards. Messages will be displayed for 3 months at the entry and exit of 9 cities, namely Lomé, Aného, Kpalimé, Tsévié, Atakpamé, Sokodé, Kara, Dapaong and Cinkassé.

According to the Authority, offering this opportunity to young and women entrepreneurs is part of the government’s measure to increase the quota for public procurement contracts reserved for young and women entrepreneurs to 25%.

Séna Akoda

In addition to the measures it announced to curb the spread of the Covid-19, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has established fee-free electronic transactions.

According to the information disclosed on April 9, 2020, Ecobank clients will not pay fees when sending money via SMS or e-mails. The same applies for invoice payments, transfers via e-cards and operations via the bank’s app. Even Money transfers from Ecobank to other banks is fee-free.

The idea, the bank informs, is to help clients during the health crisis caused by the Covid-19. Ecobank Togo, under the government’s Coronavirus preventive measures, encourages clients to use electronic transaction methods, like ATMs, as much as possible.

Also, it temporarily suspended its operations in some of its agencies. Only 17 of its agencies are now operating in the whole country, with strict respect for preventive measures, we learn.

Séna Akoda

All investors interested in the project involving the construction and operation of the hotel at Lomé’s airport (AIGE) now have until July 3, 2020, to submit their bids. Initially set on April 3, 2020, the date was postponed by the Société Aéroportuaire de Lomé-Tokoin which runs the AIGE. 

The project which can be fully or partially financed aligns with the government’s goal to make tourism one of the country’s economic pillars. 

Under the 2018-2022 national development plan, Togolese authorities plan to increase this sector’s contribution to 6.2% in 2022, from 4% in 2015. They intend to achieve this by focusing on business tourism and creating at least 10,000 decent jobs. 

Séna Akoda

Togolese e-banking startup Semoa has launched a free Whatsapp assistant that helps users diagnose Coronavirus symptoms. 

Dédé, as the assistant is named, uses artificial intelligence and “provides immediate answers about the Covid-19 to users. It also conducts diagnosis and gives steps to follow afterward.” The assistant, beyond its diagnosis component, informs users about prevention measures and gives them advice in case they have been exposed to the virus. 

To activate the assistant, users must text “Bonjour” to the  following number via WhatsApp: +228 99 05 05 05

Semoa hopes that the tool will “ease communication traffic with emergency services during the outbreak, in addition to relaying names of suspected cases to treatment centers so that they are rapidly taken care of.”

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Togo just received its first ventilators for Coronavirus-infected patients. The machines are being set up at the CH-Lomé hospital where all infected individuals in the Grand Lomé region are treated. 

Overall, the country has ordered 250 ventilators which are used to put severe cases under artificial respiration. 

Besides the ventilators, Lomé should soon receive another batch of equipment promised by Chinese billionaire and philanthropist Jack Ma.

To date, Togo has reported 70 Coronavirus-positive cases, including 23 who have recovered, 44 under treatment and three deaths.

Togolese authorities have put in place a universal income scheme to help the most vulnerable people and families cope with measures taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country. The initiative was named "Novissi" which means solidarity in Ewé, the local dialect spoken in southern Togo. 

“Novissi is a money transfer program to help all eligible Togolese citizens who have lost their source of income due to the measures implemented to fight the Coronavirus. Under this scheme, monthly allowances will be given to the most vulnerable households throughout the emergency state.”

Beneficiaries must be more than 18 years old, hold a voter’s ID. Women will get XOF12,500 while men will get XOF10,500. The money will be sent in two tranches, every two weeks, on the beneficiaries’ e-wallet. 

Séna Akoda

While early forecasts for 2020 were relatively optimistic, everything has changed with the coronavirus pandemic all over the world. As a result, Africa and more specifically West Africa is forced to lower its expectations in terms of economic growth. 

According to a recent study by Bloomfield Investment, it is said that growth in the WAEMU States - that includes Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Guinea Bissau- could reduce by 50%. 

The Togolese minister of finance, Sani Yaya, has recently aligned with the grim project saying: “Activity has slowed down, and the economic growth rate will surely be impacted. It could be reduced by half.”  

Togo, it should be recalled, expected a growth rate of about 5.3% in 2020. However, given the actual context, the forecast was downscaled to between 2.1% and 2.5%. This breaks the good pace that the country had started in 2017. 

Impact in WAEMU

According to the study’s authors, the WAEMU countries should be affected in four major areas: international trading, remittances, local economy, and public finances. 

“Most countries in the area export mainly commodities,” and their main buyers are Europe (44.1%), Africa (21.6%), Asia (20.5%) and America (7.9%). Bloomfield predicts that the fall in demand will be felt on both sides. 

Cotton: Togo a little less exposed than neighbors

In 2018, cotton made up 10% of Togo’s export making it the country’s second export product. Compared to Benin, it should thus be less impacted by the sharp drop in the prices of the crop. In 2018, cotton exports represented 56.9% of Benin’s overall exports and this exposes the nation to the price drop the most. 

Let's recall that Togo had set to produce 200,000 t of cotton by 2022 - an objective that could be hampered in the current context. 

Lower remittances 

“Remittances to the WAEMU zone should fall,” according to Bloomfield. Given their size, this could indirectly increase the impact of the Covid-19 on the zone’s countries.

For example in 2018, the transfers from the diaspora represented respectively 7.7%, 10% and 5.5% of the GDPs of Togo, Senegal, and Mali. 

Between 2007-2017, Togo captured 9.4% of remittances coming from the European Union (which is near recession at the moment), coming ahead of Côte d’Ivoire (6.6%), but far behind Mali (19.7%) and Senegal (47.6%). 

Lower public revenues vs. external debt 

As economic activity slows down, a fall in budget revenues (tax and customs) will undoubtedly follow whilst the debt burden is going to be felt more than ever. 

Togo, in this regard, is one of the countries that are most exposed to the resulting pressure according to the study; as 65% of public resources, excluding grants, are used to service its debt (IMF estimates). Besides Togo, the two other WAEMU States that are most exposed are Burkina Faso (42.9%) and Benin (46.2%). 

Let it be recalled that it is with this concern in mind that the World Bank and IMF recently asked official bilateral creditors to suspend debt payment for the most vulnerable countries.