Togo First
Togo: The 34th end-of-year's 2-week business fair is officially launched offering business opportunities at three different sites
In Lomé, the end of year’s 2-week business fair was launched on December 15, 2018. This year, it is simultaneously being held on three different sites: at the Agbadahonou site and at two other decentralized sites; Baguida and Adéticopé namely.
The aim of this event is to help economic operators take advantage of the latest opportunities and get closer to consumers.
This event and the Lomé international fair that ended on December 10, 2018, are the two most promising end of year business opportunities in Togo.
On the three sites, 400 stands are planned to be deployed over 3,440 m2. On the agenda of this fair, there are sales exhibition and advertisement, catering, recreational areas, competitions as well as entertainment. As usual, the event should officially be completed on December 31, 2018.
Séna Akoda
Togo : Remittances expected to exceed $400 million in 2018, according to the World Bank
This year, just like the previous one, the Togolese diaspora was one of the most dynamic in Africa, in terms of remittances. This was disclosed in a recent study of the World Bank on migration and development.
Aligning with a growth trend in other diasporas from the region, remittances from Togolese migrants to their home country should exceed $400 million (CFA232 billion) in 2018.
As a result Togo enters the Top 10 nations that get the most money from their diaspora, behind Nigeria ($25 billion), Ghana ($3.8 billion), Senegal ($2.7 billion), Kenya ($2.1 billion), Zimbabwe ($1.9 billion), Mali ($1 billion), South Africa ($900 million), Uganda ($800 million) and Ethiopia ($500 million).
According to estimates calculated based on Togo’s economic activity, Togolese remittances contributed 8.2% of GDP in 2018. In this regard, Togo is also in the top 10 sub-Saharan African nations. It shares this ranking with countries like Gambia (20.5% of the GDP), Comoros (19.3%), Lesotho (14.8%), Senegal (13.6%), Liberia (13.1%), Cabo Verde (12.8%), Zimbabwe (9.6%), Ghana (7.4%) and Nigeria (6.1%).
Last year, the Togolese diaspora sent home $483 million. Most (53%) of the monies was sent to friends and families at home, according to the 2017 official development assistance (ODA). Other statistics from the ministry of foreign affairs put Togolese remittances in 2017 at more than $500 million.
Meanwhile, it is expected that remittances to sub-Saharan Africa will increase from $41 billion in 2017 to $45 billion this year, and $47 billion next year.
However, in terms of transfer fees, the continent is far behind. In the third quarter of this year, they slumped to 8.9%, their lowest level ever. Regardless, this level remains below the global average of 6.9%. According to World Bank’s experts, the continent has many efforts to make to achieve the SDG3 which aims at 3% rate.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
What is Togo’s rank in the African e-commerce sector?
Earlier this week, the UNCTAD published the 2018 UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index, which determines the place of e-commerce in 151 economies. Four key indicators are considered in this index.
For Togo, this edition portrays a nascent and lagging e-commerce sector, following the same trend as in Africa that is clearly poorly prepared for e-commerce and taking less advantage of the digital opportunities than the rest of the world.
Only 12% of Togolese use internet; a percentage far below the average in Africa. However, according to the UNCTAD, 45% of the population over 15 years old have an account with a financial institution or a mobile money account making the west African country one of the countries with higher financial inclusion.
According to the report, as far as security is concerned, Togo has 19 secure internet servers per million of residents while Mauritius, Nigeria and South Africa, the three leaders in that regard in Africa have respectively 56, 52 and 83 secure servers per 1 million residents.
For the fourth indicator of that index, development of postal services, Togo scored 41 over 100.
The UNCTAD’s index also measures the percentage of individuals who make online purchases. No figure has been mentioned in that criteria for Togo.
Overall, Togo lost ten places to become the 21st in Africa. Within the Ecowas region, the country is outrun by Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, which is the leader of e-commerce within WAEMU.
Côte d’Ivoire is 24th , Mali 28th , Burkina Faso 30th and Benin 33rd. The lower rank of the index in Africa are obtained by Guinea (42nd), Chad (43rd) and Niger (44th).
In the World index, Togo is 121st. In October 2018, in a report published in Ouagadougou, the UNCTAD, estimated that Togo still had to make efforts in the e-commerce sector. The institution estimated that limited online payments and difficult deliveries out of Lomé are the main roadblocks to the development of e-commerce in the country.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo represented at the Inter-African Trade Fair, in Egypt
Togolese economic operators are taking part in the 1st Inter-African Trade Fair -IATF- currently being held in Cairo, Egypt. The 7-day show, jointly organized by the African Union, Afreximbank and the Egyptian government, opened doors December 11.
It aims to boost intra-African trade and support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECA), the agreement of which was signed in March this year by 44 African Heads of State and Government at the AU Extraordinary Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
IATF provides a platform for sharing information on trade, investment and the market. The idea is to bring buyers, sellers, investors, all together to discuss and conclude business deals.
During the event, Togolese representatives will promote their country's new national development plan and seek substantial private funding for its implementation.
This trade fair, let’s note, will be organized every two years. It will provide information on the market, trade and serve as a contact point between the different players of African trade.
Séna Akoda
Togo’s outstanding public debt securities exceeded CFA1,000 billion at the end of September 2018
The amount remaining to be paid by Togo as public debt securities issued via the regional financial market of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) has, for the first time, exceeded 1,000 billion CFA. Indeed, BCEAO indicates, the figure stood at 1,039.7 billion at the end of September 2018.
According to the Apex bank, the volume of outstanding public debt securities, which is included in the country’s internal debt, is up 7% compared to end-September 2017. Then, the figure stood at CFA968.3 billion.
Of the outstanding amount, 90% are bonds while remaining 10% are treasury bills. In detail, the bonds soared 20% over the period under review, standing at 936.8 billion, whereas bills tumbled 46% down to 102.9 billion.
Across the Union, overall outstanding public debt securities was estimated at 9,724.5 billion CFA at the end of September 2018, against 8,925.2 billion the year before.
Côtre d’Ivoire is, in the Union, the greatest issuer with an outstanding State debt securities of 3,295.1 billion. Right after it comes Benin, with an outstanding debt of 1,437.2 billion.
Togo to host its third national forum on internal audit next month
With support from the Francophone Union for Internal Audit (UFAI), The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA-Togo) will organize from January 9 to 11, 2019, the third edition of Togo’s national forum for internal audit.
Themed “Internal audit for Concerned Parties”, the upcoming edition will take place in two sessions. The first which is to take place on Jan 9 will be dedicated to administrators and managing directors and focus on “business ethics, the assessment of an organization’s strategic performance”, among others. The second part which will take place on January 10 and 11 will include a forum, eight plenary meetings and 12 workshops.
Themes that will be discussed during the plenary sessions include : “the contribution of internal audit to the improvement of public governance”; “collaborating to resist crises”; “New challenges: blockchain, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrencies”; “Elaborating a yearly audit plan in 2019: main traps to avoid”.
Séna Akoda
ABREC increases capital by CFA182 million to improve operations
Following deliberations last July 25, the African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC) recently increased its capital by CFA182 million.
In detail, Togo First learns, 182 new shares with a nominal value of one million were issued to this end. According to the document disclosing the information, the shares have been fully subscribed by legal entities with preferential subscription rights, proportionally to receivables they own in the company.
With the capital increase operation, ABREC’s capital is now valued at two billion and one million CFA. With this, the company should be able to better fulfill its goals.
Launched in 2009, ABREC is a Lomé-based Company that works to promote renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies, to help mitigate climate change in Africa near West African countries.
Séna Akoda
Togo: GDP exceeded 5% last quarter, a first since end-2016
For the first time since the end of 2016, economic growth (GDP) in Togo exceeded 5%, data from the BCEAO shows.
Indeed, the figure which stood at 4.4% in 2017, 4.5% in Q1 2018 and 4.7% in Q2 2018, passed 5% at the end of the past quarter. For the whole year, Togo’s average GDP is expected to stand at 4.9%.
Compared to other countries of the sub-region like Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso whose economic activity was spurred by a rise in production and prices of commodities, Togo’s GDP still lags behind.
However, in 2019, the country, leveraging its national development plan (PND) which aims at transforming, structurally, the economy, eyes a growth rate of more than 6%, and 7% by 2022.
These forecasts’ concretization greatly depend on the improvement of the socio-political context.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Gozem teams up with Ogar Insurance and Togo Assistance to cover its taxi and moto drivers, in Lomé
Gozem, Togo’s first taxi and moto-taxi reservation platform, has “signed two strategic partnership agreements with insurer Ogar Insurance and Togo Assistance to cover its partnering drivers in Lomé”.
“These partnerships aim to provide for all Gozem drivers an insurance contract with Ogar Insurance and affiliate them to Togo Assistance so they are taken care of in the event of an emergency,” reads the statement. This translates Gozem’s desire to help its drivers become more competitive in Togo’s urban transport and make its users safer.
“We are happy to provide our users and drivers with many insurances that will guarantee their safety while on the move,” said Farouk Tchabana, Head of Operations at Gozem. “These partnerships perfectly represent Gozem’s strategy to support its drivers by professionalizing their craft while protecting its customers,” he added.
“Ogar is proud to put its expertise at the service of Gozem which will become one of the major players of Togo’s urban transport sector,” said for his part Anouar Boukari, Technical and Commercial Director at Ogar Insurance. “Through this partnership, our goal is to improve our actions’ efficiency toward our drivers,” he then added.
Still in line with its goal to deliver a reliable and safe service, Gozem trains its drivers before the start of their partnership. The training which is based on the knowledge of the Highway Code and the utilization of the Gozem app teaches drivers this code and helps provide a service of quality to the app’s users.
All these initiatives fall under the start-up’s expansion strategy in Lomé.
Séna Akoda
Togo to host its first craft fair on Dec 14-16, 2018
From December 14 to 16, 2018, Lomé will be hosting its first international craft fair. Initiated by two firms, one from Togo and another from Benin, the fair aims at improving education in Africa and gathering key actors of this sector in Togo.
Expected at the event are schools from Togo and the region, firms and entrepreneurs. These are to introduce students, parents and professionals to reconversion and to promising professions.
The fair which is to take place at the Palais des Congrès is open to the public, freely.
Activities planned on the occasion include conferences, workshops, exhibition to inform about careers and professions with enterprises, as well as B2B meetings.
Séna Akoda