On October 23, 2019, the team steering the Youth Employment Support Project (PAIEJ-SP) validated a study establishing a basis to better assess the project's impact across the country. The study was conducted by the National Institute for Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED).

"This study provides (us) reliable reference data on all five sectors targeted by the PAIEJ-SJ," said Agbeti Komi, Statistician and Economist at INSEED. These sectors include maize, soybean, cassava, and small ruminants.

The PAIEJ-SP was launched in 2016 and will be completed next year. It aimed to create about 20,000 direct jobs and 150,000 indirect ones in the agriculture sector over the period, by supporting farmers and businesses operating in this sector. The estimated cost for the project is XOF12 billion.

Yesterday, the second edition of the AFRIBAT fair was launched at the Togolese Center For Lomé's Fairs and Exhibitions, by the minister of trade and private sector promotion, Kodjo Adedze.

The event, the official declared on this occasion, "aligns with the government's objective to equip the country with quality services and infrastructures for its emergence."

"It will facilitate business relations between Togolese economic operators, actors of both private and public sector, and investors, as well as local and foreign financial institutions," Adedze added.

For his part, Germain Essohouna Mèba, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Togo (CCIT), urged the fair's participants to contribute to the transformation of African cities, making them modern, bringing up their standards of living to international levels. In this regard, he noted that the AFRIBAT emanates from the Mediterranean Building Exhibition MEDIBAT.

With its exhibitions, conferences, B2B meetings and more, AFRIBAT provides a framework for exchanges and partnerships between professionals, experts, and entrepreneurs of the construction industry and related sectors.

Mounir Mouakhar and Lotfi Krichen, respectively representative of the Chairman of the Sfax Chamber of Commerce and Industry and president of the permanent Conference of Consular Chambers in Francophone Africa, lauded the organization of the fair in Lomé, a year after it took place in Cameroon.

Séna Akoda

Togo is the second-best place to be a woman in West Africa according to the latest Women, Peace, and Security Index, a global study assessing women's inclusion in society, their security, and equity in comparison to men. Overall, 167 countries, 51 in Africa, were ranked on the index.
Researchers at Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the Peace Research Institute Oslo ranked the country 14th in Africa and 113rd worldwide. In West Africa, Ghana was first (6th in Africa and 78th worldwide).

Within their sub-region, the two neighbors are ahead of Senegal (15th in Africa), Guinea (28th), Burkina Faso (29th), Côte d'Ivoire (31st), and Nigeria (37th). The last in the region are Niger and Mali (respectively 44th and 48th in Africa).

Mauritius is the best place to be a woman, the study found, in Africa (it is 60th in the world).

At the end of the ranking in Africa are the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan (respectively 49th, 50th and 51st).

Worldwide, Norway is the best place for women to be and surprisingly the US was ranked 19th out of all 167 countries ranked. It should be emphasized however that no country had a perfect score.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A delegation from the FNFI and the State Secretariat in Charge of Inclusive Finance and Informal Sector is presently in Ouagadougou where it is attending the 4th African Microfinance Week.

The event will be the occasion to discuss the growth of inclusive finance in Africa, and especially on its impacts on sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The two-day meetup takes place once every two years and will give Togo the opportunity to showcase its expertise and learn from other countries relative to inclusive finance.

From 2014 and 2018, FNFI has provided more than 1.5 million of loans amounting to XOF1.7 billion to various businesses.

Other activities scheduled at the event include fair for investors and an innovation festival which is set to take place on October 24 and 25, 2019.

Séna Akoda

Sani Yaya, Togolese minister of economy and finance, ordered the closure of some financial institutions that have been operating "illegally" yet promise high returns.

While the list of the concerned institutions has not yet been released, the minister's statement indicated that they "take money from people against capital securities or placement, promising up to 360% of interest."

The owners of these institutions also promise a yearly interest rate of 90% on initial deposits.

These prohibitive rates mainly aim at attracting the young, deceiving them and swindling them of their money.

Séna Akoda

The National Federation of Cotton Farmers Associations (FNGPC) recently met with cotton producers to know their concerns and urge them to help the country achieve its 200,000 t output by 2022.

This was during a tour of the FNGPC in the Savanes region. The latter was led by the federation's new chairman, Kouroufei Koussouwè.

Talks at the meeting focused on ways to boost yield per hectare. For the 2019-2020 campaign, it is expected to reach 1.1 t.

To encourage the farmers to boost their output, the FNGPC will provide an additional bonus to all of them who will be able to cultivate 100 hectares, for a yield of 1 t per year, said Koussouwè. They will receive input to achieve this target.

The MIFA will also help the farmers by improving their access to fertilizers for cereal production. This would prevent eventual diversion of input to be used for cotton farming.

Séna Akoda

Last Friday, the government provided Société Générale des Mines (SGM), a subsidiary of Keras Resources, the operating permit for the large scale exploitation of the Nayega manganese deposit (West Kpendjal prefecture). This was announced during a ministers' council held last week.

The decision follows conclusive exploration in the region and an application for the permit by SGM's subsidiary. 

According to SGM which conducted the exploration, manganese reserves found at Nayega amount to nearly 8.5 million tons. Based on this estimate, the mine is expected to have a lifespan of 11 years.

The government plans to tap into the new reserves to achieve the third axis of the PND which relates to the development of community projects and the creation of direct and indirect jobs. These, the ministers say, will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the mining area, at the social and economic levels. It should also improve partnership between Togo and the British firm in the long term.

Let it be recalled that in March 2019, the British firm had announced it secured approval to export a 10,000-ton bulk sample of manganese.

Séna Akoda

Last weekend, Togo's first-ever regulated soybeans (and derivated products) sales campaign was launched in Atakpamé, 161km from Lomé in the Ogou prefecture. The campaign covers the 2019-2020 period.

The set volume to be sold during the period is 78,000 tons. The floor price is CFA189 per Kg. This, in a context where the country's output in the past three years has risen from 24,000 tons to 35,000 tons.  

The launch of the new sales campaign was the occasion to define a regulatory framework for the sales, as well as practical conditions for the campaign. The move was steered by the Soybeans Interprofessional Council of Togo (CIFS) and the Committee in Charge of the Coordination of this sector.

The sector, let's emphasize, employs nearly 300,000 people across the country.

Ayi Renaud Dossav