On June 28, the autonomous company in charge of financing road maintenance (SAFER) in Togo said it needs about 30.3 billion CFA to rehabilitate roads in 2019. This, the entity revealed during a scheduling conference towards the programme budget’ elaboration.

The forecast was issued based on data collected to better handle and assess road maintenance efficiency.

Compared to the past years where SAFER raised 20-30% of funding it needed, this year, the company aims to mobilize up to 50% of this sum, according to its managing director Sylvain Outchantcha.

Out of the monies mobilized, CFA400 million will be used to repair roads that got damaged during the recent political protests that took place throughout the country, Outchantcha added.

Séna Akoda

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has secured a €50 million financing from Belarus’ Development Bank.

This was disclosed in a statement released subsequent to the 109th ordinary session of BOAD’s board, held last Wednesday.

During the meeting, the institution’s authorities also approved 11 transactions including 7 mid and long term loans valued at CFA90.8 billion, a refinancing line of CFA10 billion, a short-term loan of CFA5 billion and two stake acquisitions worth CFA6 billion.

Among the 11 transactions, there is a CFA10 billion loan granted to improve agricultural processing in Kara, in the Northern region.

Overall, the commitments total CFA111.8 billion bringing to CFA5,201 billion all BOAD’s commitments since it started operating.

BOAD regroups Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Togo. It is headquartered in Lomé, Togo’s capital.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

The board of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) approved on June 27 a CFA10 billion financing for Kara’s agropole, a statement released on the bank’s website indicates.

The money will be used to build roads, drill boreholes, electrify 14 villages, etc.

Kara’s agropole which will require more than CFA63 billion of investments is the first of nine projects that Togo’s government plans to develop under the agropoles programme in Togo. The latter aims to boost animal and crop production, improve agricultural infrastructures and market accessibility, and also support processing segment.

Agropole development aligns with the second strategic axis of the national development plan which aims at developing agricultural processing, manufacturing and extractive industry hubs.

In the long run, the plan should help improve agricultural trade balance by 25%, help tackle food insecurity and reduce poverty rate in rural areas to 27%, by 2026.

In addition to BOAD’s financing, Togo has already secured from the African Development Bank (AfDB) a CFA15 billion commitment for this first agropole.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Emaar Hospitality Group and Kalyan Hospitality signed on June 27, in Dubaï, an agreement that makes the Emirati firm the manager of the 2 février hotel, a five-star hotel situated in Lomé. Through the move, the hotel will fall under the Address brand and hence be renamed Address Hotel 2 Février.  

It is Emaar’s first hotel in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the firm’s executives, the contract is a significant milestone towards its expansion across the region. “This is a management agreement that we just officialized with Kalyan Group for 2 Février Hotel. It is operational and meets our standards. We wish to make this hotel a reference in West Africa. This strategic partnership will let us bring to the region our experience in regards to hotel management,” said Olivier Harnisch, CEO Emaar Hospitality Group.

According to him, the decision to start their sub-Saharan adventure in Togo was motivated by the country’s bright perspectives for economic and touristic growth. In this mindset, the firm is prospecting more opportunities in the country.

For his part, Ashok Gupta, CEO of Kalyan Hospitality, concessionaire of 2 février rejoiced over the new partnership. “Africa, we believe, is the continent of the future. Togo is determined to boost its tourism industry and we are glad to contribute to that vision,” Gupta said in the presence of Togolese ministers of tourism and trade, Yaovi Attigbe Ihou and Bernadette Legzim-Balouki, as well as the country’s ambassador to Gulf nations, Mohamed Ouro-Sama.

Between 2015 and 2017, Togo’s poverty index receded according to the national institute of statistics, economic and demographic studies (INSEED) in a report entitled 2017 Poverty cartography, published on June 26, 2018.  

In detail, poverty rate slumped from 55.1% in 2015 to 53.5% last year.

The figures are derived from two distinct studies namely the unified questionnaire on well-being base indicators (QUIBB) and a mini-survey conducted in 2017 on 27,046 households.

Explaining why this approach was adopted, Kwame Kouassi, INSEED director general, declared: “We decided to use these two surveys because the 2015 QUIBB did not provide enough details regarding poverty at the prefectural level. With additional data collected in 2017, we were able to analyze data at district and prefectural levels in Lomé. This is to allow local communities to take adequate decisions to tackle poverty”.

A lowering trend confirmed

The decrease of Togo’s poverty rate confirms positive impact of measures initiated by the government to end extreme poverty in the country. It also reinforces a trend observed since 2011. From 2011 to 2015, poverty rate indeed slumped from 58.7% to 55.1% in 2015 and then to 53.5% in 2017.

Across the countries’ various regions, poverty rate decreased significantly with some disparities here and there however, INSEED head said. Thus, in the Savannah region, this rate decreased from 87.3% in 2011 to 65% in 2017 while falling from 76% to 59.9% over the same period in the Central region.

The new data should serve as base to monitor the implementation of the 2018-2022 national development plan, and also to help achieve SDGs, declared Essohana Edjeou, cabinet director of the ministry of planning and development.

Séna Akoda

Togo’s efforts to achieve universal access to power by 2030 are supported by many countries and institutions.

For example, on behalf of France with whom India founded the International Solar Agency (ISA), Former French minister of ecology, Ségolène Royal, met with President Faure Gnassingbé on June 26 prior to a roundtable to discuss ways to mobilize funds to implement Togo’s new electrification strategy.

Following their meeting, Royal declared: “I congratulated the President for the power transition strategy that was implemented and thanked him for his active participation in the COP21 Climate Conference and the International Solar Alliance”.

“Togo is an exemplary member of ISA and it has one of the best projections in terms to power connection, to solar notably,” she said before adding: “The government plans to provide universal access to power by 2030. It is a very concrete project with a very operational roadmap”.

Séna Akoda

Togo wants to achieve 50%, 75% and 100% electrification by 2020, 2025 and 2030 respectively.

A vision backed by a new strategy that is currently being discussed with various lenders and major energy firms, at a roundtable held in Lomé. While the strategy is estimated to cost CFA1000 billion, the government wishes to initially raise CFA180 billion from potential investors. 50% of the total sum is to come from private sector.

Togo’s new electrification strategy relies on an optimal combination pairing off-grid and on-grid technologies.

To bring light to the three million people who still have no access to power in the country, the government plans to build more than 300 mini-solar plants via private-public partnerships. In addition, there is the CIZO initiative which aims to power more than 555,000 households using solar kits, by 2030.

On traditional grid, the country wants to connect 800,000 households to the infrastructure. This will be done either by connecting new areas with no access to energy or connecting people living in electrified areas but who have no access to power.

The project which is supported by the International Finance Corporation was lauded by many institutions such as the International Solar Alliance.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

During a roundtable it is holding June 27 and 28, Togo’s government hopes to raise CFA180 billion for its electrification strategy.

This amount which is the first tranche of a 1,000 billion CFA goal to raise by 2030, will help initiate the strategy’s first phase, the demonstration phase.

This phase will begin this year and end in 2020. Under the government’s plans, it will help Togo become a regional leader in terms of energy. In detail, the first phase would enable Togo to boost its electrification rate from 40% to 50%.

The roundtable, let’s note, was organized by the ministry of mines and energy with the support of the World Bank, GIZ, and the African Company for Biofuels and Renewable Energies (SABER).

Participating in the event are major companies such as EDF Energies Nouvelles, Engie, Siemens, Green Light Planet, Mekta, Bboxx, Fenix International, Sunna Design and many other regional and local actors.

Fiacre E. Kakpo