Cameroon-based multipurpose web platform and incubator, Bellomar Learning, has expanded to Togo. The firm recently announced on its official website.

The platform thus enters Togo through its partner, VPS Inter Sarlu, which is now the sole distributor of its products and services in the West African nation. This is the fifth partnership reached by Bellomar Learning in the past three months, the latest having enabled the educational firm to establish itself in Congo Brazzaville.

Bellomar Learning provides courses mostly in industrial chemistry, with a focus on soaps and detergents, but also in other areas like agribusiness, agriculture, cosmetics and waste recycling.

VPS Inter Sarlu, the firm’s new local partner in Togo, is headed by Abel Essey (alumni of the Tony Elumelu Foundation entrepreneurship program). The company specializes in agricultural engineering and engineering training.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo records another successful fundraising on the regional financial market. Indeed, Umoa-securities revealed last Friday that the country had mobilized close to XOF48.5 billion on this market through its latest issuance of fungible treasury bonds.

While the amount is impressive, Togo, which was seeking XOF20 billion via the operation, retained XOF22 billion. These monies, the regional agency indicated, will be utilized by the public treasury to finance part of its management budget for 2019.

Nominal value for each security subscribed is XOF10,000. Interest payment (6.5% per year) will commence today, Sept. 9 and extend till September 9, 2024. 

It should be recalled that all Togo’s operations on the regional financial market since Q2 2019 have been successful.

Séna Akoda

Togolese clients of Banque Atlantique, which belongs to Morocco’s Banque centrale populaire (BCP), can now conduct their transactions online from their mobile devices.

Indeed, the lender, WAEMU’s third largest bank by market shares, announced in a recent communiqué that its mobile app, “Atlantique Mobile”, was now available in all WAEMU’s Francophone countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The app can be downloaded on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. In effect, with it, users can manage both their accounts and bank cards safely, in addition to traditional operations (consulting, withdrawal, deposits).

With its app, “Banque Atlantique becomes the first lending institution within the WAEMU to offer a completely free, user-focused app, with amazing features such as facial recognition or card cap modification,” said Kamal MOKDAD, Managing Director of the bank.

Togo’s power utility, Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET), launched a tender to hire young entrepreneurs and women, for the construction of medium and low tension power lines.

The project is divided into two, covering Gbétsogbé, Totsi, Agoè Gbonvé and Plateau Bethel. The tender which closes on Sept. 26, 2019 should lead to the selection of 10 entrepreneurs.

Reaching out to this category of entrepreneurs aligns with the government’s new entrepreneurship promotion policy. 

Under the policy launched last year, initially 20% of public contracts had been set aside for young businessmen and women. As a result, the group secured contracts worth more than XOF12 billion. Earlier this year however, the share of public contracts reserved for them was increased to 25%.

Sena Akoda

On Sept. 4, 2019, some of Togo’s public audiovisual media received IT equipment from the West Africa Development Bank (BOAD). These were : Télévision Togolaise, Radio Lomé and Radio Kara.  

The provision of these equipment, laptops with installed software, should bolster the digitalization of the concerned media institutions.

According to Serge Bouah, Head of Communications, Marketing, and Public Relations at the WAEMU, the equipment should improve work conditions of journalists, especially given that “nowadays, the benefiting media have good IT and internet networks.”    

For his part, John Abalo Takou, director of Radio Lomé (left on picture) said: “this equipment adds to what we already have and will help us better do our job. We thank the BOAD for supporting our digitalization,” he added.

Séna Akoda

The government has repurchased last week, more than 200 tons of fresh tomatoes from local producers. The move, official sources indicated, aims to support farmers who intended to export to Nigeria but cannot at the moment given the closure of the Benin-Nigeria border.

The tomatoes have been bought at twice their actual market price (XOF1500 instead of XOF700).

The fruits were in effect purchased by the army which will distribute part to various garrisons, and others, and stock another part for future use.

Last year, let’s recall, Togo’s overall exports to Nigeria were valued at $35 million.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo needs XOF38.6 billion for road maintenance next year. However, only 36% of this sum (XOF14 billion) can be mobilized by the Autonomous Company for Road Maintenance Financing, SAFER.

This was revealed by Sylvain Outchantcha, MD of Safer, during a meeting to draw the 2020 budget-programme for road maintenance.  

While resources that will be allocated to road maintenance next year are the same as this year, overall budget for the works for its part has increased from XOF30 billion to nearly XOF39 billion.

Let’s note that in Togo, 4,600 km of roads are degraded, out of the 11,777 km which makes the national road network.

Sena Akoda

Last Thursday, President Gnassingbé met with Indian minister of foreign affairs, Vellamvelly Muraleedharan.

Talks between the two men revolved mainly around ways to boost cooperation between Togo and India, especially in the power, mining and digital economy sectors.

The Indian diplomat also met with the minister of Energy and Mines, Marc Ably-Bidamon, and that of development planning, Demba Tignokpa. 

With the former, Muraleedharan reviewed bilateral relations between the two nations in the mining and solar sectors. “We dicussed about bilateral relations and coming projects, notably those relating to solar power and mining,” declared Marc Ably-Bidamon following the meeting.

India is worldwide a major promoter of clean energy. With France, the Asian mastodon founded the International Solar Alliance (ISA) which Togo is part of.

Séna Akoda

With Terreau Fertile, a local association, Togo’s chamber of commerce and industry (CCIT) will organize the first edition of the Investment Revalorization and Trade Promotion Fair (FERIN in French).

The fair which is scheduled for Oct. 10 and 11, 2019 will be held in Lomé, the capital. In its framework, a communication and sensitization meeting was organized last Wednesday at the CCIT.

The upcoming fair should serve Togo’s ambitions, under its national development plan, to become a logistics hub across the region. This plan actually depends greatly on private investments to be fulfilled.

“This initiative perfectly aligns with the PND’s ambitions,” commented CCIT’s chairman, Germain Méba, urging “all business operators to mobilize for its success.”

Regarding the FERIN, more than 3,000 participants are expected to attend the event.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi