Togo’s National Agency for Volunteering (ANVT) will allocate to national volunteers all over the country a total of CFA150 million every year to finance health insurance for them and their family members (partner and minor children).

The scheme was launched August 9, 2018 in Lomé by ANVT. In addition was signed a convention for social coverage, by ANVT’s director, Omar Agbangba, and Miriam Dossou who heads the National Health Insurance Institute (INAM). This was done in the presence of Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé, minister of grassroot development, craftsmanship, youth and youth employment.

The project will cover 3,800 people including 2,208 registered in INAM’s insured database.

According to Omar Agbangban, it should drive young volunteers to better commit to their missions. For her part, Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé said the State’s decision to support these volunteers  aims to help young Togolese flourish, boost financial inclusion and most importantly provide social coverage to all layers of the population.

The minister however added that beneficiaries should use the insurance responsibly. “Protecting this health insurance is your responsibility in order to prevent any possible abuse. This way, you will make sure the initiative lasts and is efficient,” Tomégah-Dogbé told the volunteers.

Noel Bataka, Coordinator of value chains of Mifa (incentive mechanism for agricultural financing) visited last Tuesday three of the eight sites selected in the framework of the project’s pilot phase.

The visit’s purpose was to assess progress made under the mechanism’s implementation as well as meet with farmers and agricultural advisors.

The three sites visited were those of Kovié, Agou and Notsè.

“For us, Mifa is a great innovation” 

The first pilot site visited by the coordinator is that of Kovié/Mission Tové (40km from Lomé). Based in the Zio valley, the site which specializes in rice farming already benefited from Mifa’s technical support and will soon get its first check. Mifa should help increase and better regulate rice production in the area, according to Kossi Djifa Adokanou who heads the Zio Valley Rice Farming Area Management Committee. “Up till now, we faced many challenges, the most important being difficulties in selling our yield. The Mifa provides a major solution to this issue as it will provide us many outlets,” he said. “We will start contract-based production which means that even before the farmer produces, he knows the buyer and selling price,” he added. The official continued revealing that in the next two weeks, the valley should benefit from a subsidy of about CFA500 million. This financing will be used to boost output and optimize yield.

356 hectares dedicated to rice and maize farming in Agou

Next, Mifa’s coordinator went to Agou where the following four planned farming zones (ZAAP) are located: Gadjagan (106ha of arable lands), Nitoé and Akplolo (spanning 100ha each and dedicated to rice and maize growing respectively), and Avétonou, (50 ha).

At Gadjagan, there are 212 farmers who received 0.5 ha each. These farmers welcomed the Mifa and said they were impatient to benefit from the initiative. Expressing himself regarding the mechanism, their president, Sédo Koffi Séményo, declared: “The mechanism will change a lot of things and this will help us increase our output and better take care of our families, given that it takes insurance into account ”

For his part, Folly Notchron, a farmer from the Agou farming area, active since 1914, says: “The issues we used to face before as we sought loans or provided guarantee cautions are now history with the Mifa. We, the farmers, are extremely pleased. We are insured on all fronts, even in the event of bad weather that hamper our work”.

Those in charge of the Avétonou production sites congratulated Mifa’s coordinator and said they were pleased to see their challenges, regarding sales and financing, solved. The coordinator, during his field-visit also discussed with advisors who have been helping registered and trained farmers on a daily basis.

Last destination: Notsè and its cassava producers

To end his visit, the coordinator and his delegation were at Agotové, a village situated 10km from Notsè. There he met a group of women specialized in cassava farming and gari production. The women who were told a few weeks earlier about Mifa and its advantages thanked the President for the initiative, but also its coordinator for visiting them personally.

However, Dagnowou Ami (photo), secretary of the Miwoè né gnon cooperative took the opportunity to raise an important issue: conflicts with breeders in the region. “The animals destroy the women’s farms” and their yields, the secretary said, asking for authorities’ help to solve the matter.

“The mechanism sparks in producers’ minds dreams that the implementation must make true, for the good of Togo’s agriculture”

Addressing the press at the end of his visit, Mifa’s coordinator expressed his satisfaction regarding efforts made in the framework of the project. “The president of Kovié’s CGP expressed his desire to improve rice farming in his region ; farmers in Agou were very enthusiastic, due to the opportunities resulting from the mechanism, and said they wished to expand the maize-growing areas. As for the women I met in Notsè, they were reassured by the many advantages of the Mifa and the fact that these would help them better sell their cassava. They also rejoiced over the fact that insurance, which is one of the mechanism’s key pillars, would be effective for them,” Noel Bataka said to sum up his visit.

“The government’s goal is to provide outlets to small producers, allowing them to improve their yield and subsequently their living standards,” the coordinator further indicated.

Officially launched on June 25, 2018, by President Faure Gnassingbé, the Mifa aims at facilitating risk-sharing and improving financing for farmers and other agricultural actors across the country, thus making the sector more professional.

Reportage by Octave A. Bruce

Initiated by Brazil, the Coton 4 + Togo project aims to provide producers and other actors of Togo’s cotton sector with key information and quality training.

Since it was launched, more than 500 Togolese farmers have benefited from the project and had their skills regarding improved seeds cultivation techniques strengthened. This was disclosed on August 6, 2018, during the opening of the third meeting of actors involved in the project, in Lomé. It was also revealed that the project enabled the introduction of resilient tested crops in Togo.   

In terms of prospects, it aims to enhance technology transfer, as well as foster experience sharing and good practices between the sector’s various actors. In the long term, it will enable the mobilization of $5.5 million which will be used by benefiting countries to improve the quality and volume of their respective cotton output. It also aligns with Togo’s strategic plan for the cotton sector.

According to the minister of agriculture, Ouro-Koura Agadazi, the “Coton4+ project whose goal is to help sustainably improve cotton production and competitiveness, aligns with the strategic plan for the sector that falls under the National Development Plan (PND)”.

Meanwhile, Antonio Carlos De Salles Menezes, Brazil’s ambassador to Togo, praised Togo’s efforts to boost the quality and quantity of its cotton production.

During the meeting which will last five days, key actors of the cotton sector of various nations benefiting from the project will review the 2017-2018 crop year and define new prospects to boost cotton output.

In line with its agricultural development strategy, Togo eyes a cotton output of 200,000 metric tons by 2022.

Séna Akoda and Caleb Akponou (Intern)

Last Friday during a ministers’ council, Togo’s government adopted a new five-year roadmap which is the 2018-2020 National Development Plan (PND 2018-2020 in French). The document will replace the SCAPE which helped the nation initiate deep economic transformations, such as modernizing infrastructures.

Major projects

The PND aims to make Togo an economic reference in West Africa. It results from a process that involved key actors of the public administration, private sector, civil society, regional leaders but also technical and financial partners.

The 5-year program will be used as a guiding reference for government’s actions and all interactions with Togo’s partners. It will, according to relevant sources, help make the country a top-class logistics and business hub.

Under its first axis, this new strategy will focus on improving infrastructures and processes at the Port of Lomé, which is currently the only deep-water port in West Africa, as well as boost road infrastructures and aviation. Regarding the latter, Asky, which is partners with Ethiopian Airlines and other major African airlines, is quite active in the sector. Moreover, many projects are expected in the digital industry. Some will help improve key infrastructures subsequently raising quality of services provided to users in the sector.

The National Development Plan also aims to make Togo a business and tourism hub and turn Lomé, which already hosts headquarters of major financial institutions (BOAD, BIDC, Orabank, Ecobank, African Guarantee Fund), into a top-class business centre in Africa.

Under its second axis, the plan will focus on creating poles for agricultural processing, manufacturing and mining in various parts of Togo. The following align with this objective: the agropoles project backed by South Korea, BOAD, AfDB; the industrial parks project; the national electrification strategy under which the country intends to achieve 50% and 75% electrification rates by 2020 and 2025 respectively; reviving mining industry, promoting artisanal entrepreneurship and all sorts of businesses.

Finally, the government’s new action plan seeks to consolidate social development and boost inclusion mechanisms.

The third axis will focus on improving educational system and professional training, but also the provision of basic social services (health, water and power), youth employment, financial inclusion, gender equity, social and environmental protection.

Over five years, the plan will require about $8.3 billion (4,622.2 billion CFA) to make Togo’s economy more resilient, sustainable, inclusive and robust while creating more jobs and improving populations’ social welfare.

Target: A 7.6% growth rate and 500,000 direct and decent jobs

With the PND, the government expects economic growth to rise to 7.6% in 2022, from 6.6% now. This should, according to authorities, create more jobs, redistribute national wealth and thus significantly reduce poverty and help the country achieve a greater human development level, mainly by improving access to basic services as mentioned earlier.

In detail, the PND should help provide more than 500,000 people with a stable and decent job. Meanwhile, as the economy will become more competitive and productive, per capita income is expected to rise by 9.7% to $670, with a better distribution.

Togo, let’s note, wishes to rise 10 places on the Mo Ibrahim Governance Index which already identifies the country as the second African nation to have implemented reforms the most after Côte d’Ivoire in the past 10 years. On World Bank’s Doing Business Index, Togo aims to rise 10 ranks every year throughout the PND’s implementation period. To this end, the government created at the end of 2017 the business climate cell (CCA) which coordinates various reforms that aim to improve Togo’s business climate.

Private sector, greatest contributor  

As said previously, the PND will require $8.3 billion. Private sector will contribute greatly to this amount; $5.4 billion (CFA2, 999.1 billion) or 65% of the overall projected financing to be exact. The government will provide remaining 35% ($2.9 billion).

According to the statement released by the minister’s council following the PND’s adoption, President Faure Gnassingbé “has urged the government to strengthen dialogue with all key actors of the Togolese society, namely private sector, political actors, syndicates and civil society organizations, in order to promote a better appropriation of the PND and to ensure their participation in its implementation and the achievement of desired goals”.

A strong support

Given its quite ambitious nature, the PND is getting supports from various entities. The World Bank for example is one of those, along with the IMF. Indeed, while the first announced under its new partnership framework that it will increase its support to Togo to back the PND, the second, pleased with the roadmap’s finalization, raised the country’s economic outlook in its latest review. The PNUD also lauded the plan and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is the World Bank’s arm in charge of private sector, with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) both said Togo’s 2030 electrification strategy, which aligns with the PND, is quite realistic and “the first of a kind in Africa”. In addition to all these are AfDB and BOAD which support Togo’s new incentive scheme for agricultural funding (MIFA) in addition to the agropole creation project.

More partners, such as Afreximbank and China could join current backers once the PND is effectively on track.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Held on August 3, 2018, under the supervision of Faure Gnassingbé, Togo’s president, the ministerial council issued a decree for the creation of a national committee coordinating activities against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (CONAC).

The creation of CONAC, which is to replace the interministerial council supervising the anti-money laundering and the financing of terrorism, will provide Togo with the appropriate tools to fight against this issue the country and its neighbors are confronted with.  

Constituted of representatives of various ministerial departments as well as private and public institutions, CONAC will take appropriate measures to identify, review and alleviate the threat of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Placed under the supervision of the finance and economy minister, it will also coordinate the country’s actions in that fight.

On August 2, 2018, in Lomé, Togo’s trade and private sector’s development ministry, in partnership with BCEAO, kicked off the national launch of a scheme, aimed at supporting the financing of WAEMU’s SMEs and SMIs.  

Initiated by BCEAO, “ Dispositif Pme”, which should be implemented in each of WAEMU member countries, is aimed at setting an ecosystem favorable to SMEs’ funding by banks in order to improve their contribution to GDP and their job creation capacity.

This scheme provides an appropriate solution to SMEs’ funding problems, via incentives offered by BCEAO to credit institutions. “When credits are offered to eligible companies, BCEAO can, in return, refinance those credits to the banks at more attractive conditions”,  Kossi Ténou, BCEAO’s resident representative in Togo, explained.

The goals of this scheme are to promote SMEs by improving their management and refinance eligible companies’ loans as well as diversify the financial instruments adapted to their needs.

To be eligible for that scheme, the company should be a non-financial institution producing market goods or services with less than CFA1 billion as operating capital. The company must also fulfill the legal obligations to publish financial reports according to WAEMU’s rules.

The Togolese ministry of trade and private sector development Bernadette Legzim-Balouki informs that the government will take all the required measures to allow the operationalization of this scheme in Togo.

Let’s remind that this scheme falls in line with the permission granted to the Central Bank in 2012 by WAEMU heads of States in the framework of the action plan to finance the union’s economies.

Séna Akoda