Togo First
BRVM reveals second batch of SMEs joining its Elite BRVM Lounge program
As announced last week, the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), released on Monday the second batch of 10 enterprises, under its Elite BRVM Lounge program.
Developed by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), this program is a “dynamic ecosystem revolving around the enterprise and aiming to support and foster innovation, entrepreneurship and growth”. Though their names are yet to be known, the 10 SMEs selected under this second batch come from Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal, sources indicate.
This second batch of firms selected to adhere to the Elite BRVM Lounge adds to another of 10 businesses also. Through this scheme, WAEMU’s stock market wants to “help boost capacities of firms that have a high-growth potential across the sub-region, thus enabling them to access a new source of financing via WAEMU’s regional financial market”.
Let’s recall that a Togolese firm, Sodigaz, was among the first ten companies selected to join the program. The other nine were ATC-IB (Benin ; wood industry) Bénin Petro, Isocel Télécoms (telecommunications-Internet), ASI BF (Burkina Faso), Général des assurances (Burkina Faso), ENSBTP (Côte d'Ivoire), Sodigaz Mali, Neurotech (Senegal; IT solutions) and Technologies Services (Senegal, medical equipment supplier).
Séna Akoda
Ghana-Togo Maritime Boundary Dispute : For the third time, negotiations fail
After three rounds of talks, Ghana and Togo failed to reach an agreement to end their maritime boundary delimitation dispute.
“Given the three rounds of negotiations so far, it is quite possible that we are not reaching consensus very soon,” said Lawrence Apaalse, Head of Ghana’s Technical team negotiating the maritime boundary delimitation with Togo.
In case the talks fail definitely, the Ghanaian official says a third party could help them settle the dispute.
However, before getting to that extent, Apaalse who is also the Chief Director of the Ministry of Energy said that beside meetings between the two countries’ technical team, their respective presidents had made some diplomatic commitments which should be activated to reach an amicable solution.
After Togo strongly opposed Ghana for its oil and gas activities near their shared border, it had to stop them in December last year.
Indeed, after claiming the zone of activity exploited by Ghana, Togolese authorities seized two seismic vessels from Ghana hence setting the disagreement and actual talks.
Now, as Ghana’s navy moved to the conflict area, Lomé is not pleased and demanded that measures are taken for the navy to exit the zone.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
From 2005 to 2013, France injected more than €160 mln of budget aid under the WAEMU Regional Economic Program
From 2005 to 2013, French budget aid for the WAEMU, under the financing of the Regional Economic Program (PER), exceeded more than €160 million or CFA118 billion. This was disclosed on December 10, 2018, by Badanam Patoki, representative of Togo’s minister of economy and finance, at the opening of a workshop to validate the provisional report on the aid’s evaluation. The workshop is to end on December 14, 2018.
According to Badanam, the aid was used to finance projects that impacted populations across the Union, in social and development sectors. The latter include hydraulics, combating coastal erosion, establishing adjacent control posts, weighing stations and road studies.
Through all these actions, the minister’s representative says, the French aid highly contributed to the PER’s realization.
The current assessment, it should be noted, takes place a decade after the implementation of the global budget aid which was born of the desire of WAEMU’s commission to anchor the culture of results-based management, efficiency and effectiveness into its mode of governance and accountability to the people.
Séna Akoda
Togo: IMF to disburse a fourth financing of $35M under ECF-backed program
On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), pleased with Togo’s macroeconomic framework, approved during a board meeting the disbursement of a fourth financing tranche of $34.9 million for the country.
“The program’s return is very satisfying. All quantitative return criteria and three of the five structural benchmarks were met. The assessment’s completion enables the disbursement of 25.17 million SDR (around $34.9 million), thus bringing total sum disbursed since the agreement’s beginning to 100.68 million SDR (around $139.5 million),” World Bank indicates.
Approved in May 2017, the three-year ECF-backed program valued at $241.5 million has strengthened Togo’s economy which was suffocating in 2016 due to a rampant public debt; a debt that became unbearable for authorities
More than a year after the program started, IMF estimates that the Togolese economy shows signs of stabilization, despite a “difficult environment” sustained by socio-political protests. According to the Fund, growth should quicken while inflation aligns with WAEMU standards.
The Bretton Woods institution lauds Lomé’s efforts in bringing public debt to viable levels and advance budget reforms. It did the same for the projected debt-reprofiling operation. However, IMF urges Togolese authorities to stand by their macroeconomic adjustment and reforms program, in order to remain on the right path.
Regarding the move to privatize UTB and BTCI (public banks), the Washington-based institution says it is convinced that “implementing safeguard measures agreed on will be an important step toward ensuring that the lenders’ privatization align with the best international standards”.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Nigerian Axxela, formerly Oando, to start supplying Togo with gas via the West African Gas Pipeline
Nigerian natural gas supplier Axxela, formerly Oando Gas and Power, will supply Togo via the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP). The related agreement was recently signed in Accra, Ghana, with the pipeline’s operator, West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCO).
Under the new partnership, Axxela will deliver 15 million standard cubic feet or 425,000 cubic meters of natural gas to Lomé, every day, via the WAGP.
Once the gas reaches Togo’s capital, it will first be used to increase the number of gas-fired generators powering the ContourGlobal thermal plant. Already, last June 8, Togo’s power utility CEET inked with Axxela a supply deal under which the Nigerian firm supplied the plant’s generators with natural gas. According to reliable sources, the Kékéli power plant that is expected to come online end-2020 will also run on Nigerian natural gas.
In January 2018, after it got the green-light to distribute gas via the West African Gas Pipeline, Axxela revealed its plans to expand its footprint across the West African sub-region.
Leveraging its new supplier status, Axxela wants to supply more than 100 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to thermal plants, businesses and others, in West Africa. “This is a significant achievement in the vista of our operations and speaks to our position as pioneers in the industry. As WAGP shippers, we expect to monetize gas resources in the West African region, increase the throughput on the WAGP, and thereby reduce the applicable unit transportation tariff. Axxela is committed to providing cleaner and cost-effective fuel for power generation to spur industrial growth and economic empowerment across the sub-region”, said Axxela’s CEO, Bolaji Osunsanya.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
EAMAU to get ultra-modern training campus for architects and urbanists
At the 36th session of administrators of the African School of Architecture and Urbanism (EAMAU) held in Lomé, it was decided that the regional academy would become a specialized integrated institution and a reference across the African Union.
In line with this objective, the centre will get a 12 ha field to build an ultra-modern campus. “We wish to help this institution shine by giving the means to expand,” said Octave Nicoué-Broohm, Togo’s minister of higher education and research.
According to EAMAU’s chairperson, Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, “the necessary measures are being taken to boost value of professions in this sector, that will receive new infrastructures in the near future, for our common benefit”.
Séna Akoda
Mifa to create an agricultural insurance firm to cover over 6,000 farmers
For the last three months of its pilot stage, MIFA wants to speed up the creation of an agricultural insurance firm that will cover 6,000 farmers.
This mechanism, initially launched to push banks to lend more to agricultural value chains, intends to enroll three thousand additional farmers. In the same vein, it plans to boost capacities of all players in the agriculture value chain.
Launched six months ago, the Mifa which works on a risk-sharing basis, has gathered so far more than 3,500 farmers and 122 cooperatives.
The cooperatives, divised across 7 pilot phases sought out about two billion CFA of loans from financial institutions over the period. CFA105 million were granted at a rate of 8% while the remaining 1.2 billion is still being released.
In Sadori (Oti prefecture), Tagnamboul (Dankpen prefecture), Blitta, Notsè, Kovié and Aglomeglozou, farmers got nearly CFA75 million of fertilizers pre-delivered under the mechanism. Moreover, still under MIFA, about 10 partnership agreements were signed by around 50 players of the value chains; this goes along the creation of business relations with these players.
Regarding the contracts, there are mostly deals to purchase 10,000 tons of rice and cassava, and 3,500 tons of maize from aggregators.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Government fixes property transfer fee at CFA35000
In Togo, property transfer fee is now fixed at CFA35000 in line with a ministerial decree dated November 20, 2018.
“A flat fee of CFA35000 will be paid for registration, stamp fees and land conservation fees in the event of complete transfers (of property),” said a note released by the ministry of economy and finances.
Previously, the fixed fee were proportional to the property’s value. Truly, under the 2018 finance bill, in which various incentives were introduced, it represented 6.3% of the property’s value whereas in 2017, it was set at 9.3%.
Setting a fixed tariff aims at simplifying procedures by merging fees requested for file submission, liquidation and registration into a single fee, Togo First was told by Sandra Johnson, Head of Togo’s Business Climate Cell and Counselor to the President. She indicates that the initiative perfectly aligns with the government’s efforts to boost land access in Togo.
Johnson then urged notaries to also update their rates in accordance to the new tax and procedural relief measure.
Let’s recall that since last year, Togo started implementing a battery of reforms aimed at improving its business climate. The reforms have actually helped authorities dematerialize almost all available land titles at the end of 2017, and created this year a single desk for property transfer (hence shortening associated delays).
Spurred by the various incentives, Togo gained 19 places in the latest Doing Business index. Under the latter, the property transfer indicator soared 55 places, driving the nation’s overall rise.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo : Parliament greenlights creation of commercial courts to reassure investors
A few weeks after adopting the bill for creating commercial courts, Togo’s parliament just greenlit their establishment.
The courts’ upcoming establishment is much wished by Sandra Ablamba Johnson, counselor to the President of the Republic and head of the business climate. Indeed, the measure should align with the government’s efforts to improve the country’s business environment. It will also help improve commercial contract management, a key index under the Doing Business.
Concretely, conflicts that may arise between businessmen while executing or interpreting contracts, will be solved at the root by commercial courts.
Hence, Togo will offer judicial security requested by economic operators, in addition to legal security provided by the OHADA law. This is an important step toward building a favorable legal framework for businesses.
Séna Akoda
Strategic partner selected for TogoCom’s capital opening should be known end-March 2019
On December 6, 2018, a ministers’ council was held to launch an international tender for capital opening of Togocom. The latter results from the merger between Togo’s landline and mobile telephony leader, TogoCel and Togo Telecom.
Togolese authorities are actually looking for a strategic partner who can meet expectations of the public firm. These include rapidly boosting access to broadband internet by 2020 by developing 4G and optical fiber. This will allow the group to consolidate its investment capacity and benefit from latest ICT, to develop new growth segments, the authorities said.
In effect, Togocom intends to, in the coming years, become one of the leading telecom operators of the region, sharing the podium with actual leaders such as MTN, Maroc Telecom (which operates in Togo via Moov), Orange or Vodacom. “For the government, this move will accelerate development and boost investments in telecommunications, hence providing a service of better quality and competitive prices, for the benefit of the people and businesses, while supporting the country’s development strategy”.
The strategic partner selected in the tender should be known at the end of March 2019, the ministers’ council indicated.
Fiacre E. Kakpo