Togo First
Togo: Ministers adopt new investment code aligning with national development plan
The Togolese government adopted a bill for a new investment code. This was during a council of ministers held yesterday, May 29.
The move aims, the ministers say, to “make the country’s legal investment framework more appealing to investors and steer their actions so as to achieve a strong and robust economic growth, enhancing job and wealth creation at economic and social levels.”
The new document features among new amendments to the former investment code, incentives that are proportional to investment (tax reduction varies based on investment size or impact on job creation); incentives varying according to business operating zones; fixed exoneration rates on dues, indirect and direct taxes over a five-year period.
Moreover, some amendments focus on status of holdings’ headquarters, regional headquarters of an international firm or their operational centres, which fosters job creation. Some also regard approval and declaration requirements, as well as redefine minimum re-investment thresholds.
A code that aligns with 2018-2022 PND
The new code, it should be noted, aligns with the three axes of the 2018-2022 national development plan (PND).
In effect, looking at the first axis, the new investment code, once adopted should “make Togo more attractive for major international companies, by offering specific tax incentives that will support the growth of a logistics hub, while at the same time enabling short-term growth of tax earnings, through the limitation of incentives” mentioned above.
Regarding axis n°2, the new code’s proportional tax incentives component will spur the development of long-term growth economic pillars.
Last, by ensuring job creation across the country, leveraging tax incentives based on implementation areas, the code aligns with the PND’s third axis relative to social growth and inclusion initiatives.
Séna Akoda
OADEL releases a catalogue promoting “Made in Togo” products
A second edition of the “Nos Produits 228” catalogue, dedicated to “Made in Togo” products, was recently issued by the organization for food and local development (OADEL).
The 146 pages catalogue aims at getting Togolese consumers more interested in local products. It features food by category such as breakfasts, flours, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, etc. The first edition of the magazine was released in 2008.
Items featured are listed in the same organization as in stores, so that they can be easily spotted by buyers, according to Nedo Homawoo, owner of Neho Likors, an aromatized liquor business.
Overall, around hundred Togolese processors, and nearly 400 local products can be found in the catalogue.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
These are the conditions to benefit from WAEMU’s SME and SMIs support program
SMEs and SMIs willing to benefit from the WAEMU SME/SMI support program must meet specific criteria.
They must be autonomous, produce goods or market services, be registered at the Trade and Personal Property Credit Register (RCCM) in any of the WAEMU member states, or any equivalent register.
Moreover, in line with legal standards in effect, the firms must provide their financial statements, a management and support framework, and have a pre-tax annual turnover of at least one billion CFA.
The present program aims to finance SMEs and SMIs as they struggle to get loans from banks and other conventional lending institutions, for their expansion. Quite a paradox considering that the businesses make up nearly 95% of the WAEMU’s economic fabric.
Séna Akoda
Thirty four speakers will be present at the coming Togo-EU economic forum
There will be 34 speakers at the Togo-EU economic forum which will be held in Lomé next June 13-14. This was recently disclosed by the event’s organization committee.
Besides local speakers (both officials and private actors), there will be representatives of the UN, IMF, and the European Union, amongst others.
Among local speakers are Kodjo Adedze, minister of trade and private sector, Laurent Tamegnon, chairman of employers’ association, and Germain Mèba, president of the chamber of commerce and industry (CCIT).
As for key foreign speakers, these include Jyrki Katainen, vice president of European Commission for Employment and Investment, Paul-Harry Aithnard, Managing Director of Ecobank in Côte d’Ivoire and WAEMU, Mario Pezzini, head of OECD’s development center. Others such as Vincent Laly, CEO Le MOCI, Clément Ahiley, AGET’s chairman or Etienne Giros, president of EBCAM and CIAN, will be attending the forum whose main objective is to enable Togo secure funding for its national development plan.
Séna Akoda
Trade : Togo works on establishing a reinforced partnership with Chinese tech giant Alibaba
Last Monday, Togolese minister of mining and energy, Marc Ably-Bidamon, met Alibaba’s vice president, Brian Wong, to discuss a possible reinforced trade partnership between the two parties.
This was on the sidelines of the New Economy Workshop’s launch in Hanghzou, China. Ably-Bidamon gave Wong a letter from president Gnassingbé inviting Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, to Togo for a working visit.
Ending today, fourteen Togolese public officers are attending the tech giant’s New Economy Workshop. At this occasion, they will learn more about digital economy, Big Data and financial inclusion.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
South African firms Technology Innovation Agency and Wave International interested in Togolese market
Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and Wave International, two South African firms, are interested in the Togolese market. Indeed, representatives from the two companies were recently received by President Faure Gnassingbé.
TIA leverages sciences and technology to advance industrial development and boost youth employment in SA while Australia-based Wave International is a private investment initiative engaged in sustainable development and ecosystem protection.
Senisha Moonsamy, representative of TIA discussed with the president investment opportunities for her firm in Togo and also a potential economic cooperation between South Africa and Togo. Dr Gilles Assouline, MD of Wave International, for his part discussed the firm’s desire to expand to Togo and help the West African nation in the framework of its national development plan.
The meetings, it should be emphasized come after president Gnassigbé’s official trip to South Africa, for the recent institution of reelected South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on May 25, 2019.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
EDF-Energy Generation equips about 100 West African women, Togolese included, with tools to foster solar entrepreneurship
Signed about a year ago, the partnership between French energy firm EDF and Lomé-based pan-African company Energy Generation has yielded its first results.
Concretely, EDF taught, under a program named “Women and Solar Entrepreneurship,” about a hundred women from Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, techniques related to the installation and maintenance of off-grid solar systems. “The program aimed for these women to become key contributors of energy transition in their respective countries,” said Astria Fataki, President of Energy Generation as the partnership was being signed.
Founded in 2016, Energy Generation is involved in projects to boost electrification in rural areas across sub-Saharan Africa. Besides the Women and Solar Entrepreneurship program, it benefits from EDF’s support for the EDF Pulse Africa Awards which rewards African startups that really play a role in energy development across the continent.
Séna Akoda
Cotton: Additional XOF35/kg will be paid to farmers for the 2018/19 season
For the new cotton campaign launched last Thursday in Kara, Togo eyes an output of 150,000 tons after it barely missed its forecast for the recently ended season (140,000 tons).
In 2018/19, the country produced 137,255 tons of cotton for a yield of 764 kg/ha, up 17% compared to the season before.
Over the past season, nearly XOF24 billion were paid to farmers based on prices set at the beginning of the campaign. Moreover, an additional XOF35 will be paid to farmers per kg sold, thus bringing sales price during the period to XOF285, against XOF250 set initially.
However, first-choice yield will be purchased at a fixed price of XOF265 a kg.
To produce the forecasted 150,000 tons of cotton, 180,000 ha should be cultivated.
To encourage farmers, prices of fertilizers will be further decreased, on State subsidy.
Let’s recall that by 2022, Togo intends to produce 200,000 tons of cotton.
Fourteen young Togolese attend Alibaba’s New Economy Workshop in China
Fourteen young Togolese public officers are now at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China, for the 3-day New Economy Workshop.
The workshop was opened yesterday, by Togo’s minister of mines, Marc Ably-Bidamon, and Brian Wong, Vice President of Alibaba. It is part of the Chinese tech giant’s e-commerce promotion and incubation program.
The Togolese participants will learn about digital economy, e-commerce, supply chains, Big Data-related opportunities, online payments and financial inclusion.
The event, it should be noted was announced last September by Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder, during a trip of Togolese leader, Faure Gnassingbé, in Hangzhou.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Poultry: Kara’s agro-hub will have slaughterhouses with a capacity of 1,000t-1,500t per hour
The Kara agro-hub will have poultry slaughterhouses with a processing capacity of 1,000t-1,500t per hour, at peak production levels.
The agro-hub which is yet to be operational will also be equipped with poultry transformation and conditioning facilities. The hub’s hatcheries are forecast to produce nearly three million broiler chicks per year.
At its cruise phase, yearly processing capacities at Kara’s agropole are projected at 90,000 tons, 15,000 tons and 10,000 tons, for rice, maize feed and soybeans, said Essowè Batana, acting director general of the Agency for the Promotion and Development of Agropoles in Togo – APRODAT. Sesame and cashew will also be processed at a later period. For the first, 10,000t/y is expected to be processed while for cashew, 20,000t should be processed on a yearly basis. The forecasts’ effective implementation depend on investors’ decision.
The Kara agropole which is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 is the pilot of a larger project aimed at structurally transforming Togolese agriculture, with a focus on exporting locally-processed products.
Séna Akoda