Togo First
South African medical devices maker Sinapi seeks partner in Togo
Sinapi biomedical, a Stellenbosch-based (Western Cape, South Africa) biomedical engineering firm plans on entering the West African market, through Togo.
“We wish to collaborate with local authorities to improve healthcare in Togo. We are actually seeking a local private or public partner, specialized in the distribution of our medical devices.” This was revealed to Togo First by Tobias Van Reenen, chief of global sales at Sinapi.
Founded in 2001, the company since 2003 has been developing chest drainage, urinary, obstetrics and feeding devices. It plans in the long run to build a production unit in Togo.
“We are looking to set up a small production plant in Togo. However, it will depend on some elements, but that is our vision,” Van Reenen declared.
For the executive, Togo could be the starting point for its expansion across West, East and Central Africa. Sinapi is currently present in South Africa, and South Korea via a local partner.
Annual Investment Meeting : Cina Lawson promotes Togo in Dubai
Togo’s minister of posts, digital economy and technological innovations is currently in Dubai where she is attending the 9th Annual Investment Meeting (AMI).
The minister will talk during a panel of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). She should at this occasion meet various investors to discuss investment opportunities available in Togo, same as she did during the recent CEO Forum.
The theme of this edition is “Mapping the future of foreign direct investment: Enriching world economies through digital globalization.” In line with this theme, the event will focus on the impact of digital globalization on ways through which policies can be implemented to improve business climate around the world.
Séna Akoda
Togo: Rural electrification agency carries out sensitization campaign in Kara
Togo’s agency for rural electrification and renewable energies (AT2ER), is currently carrying out a sensitization campaign in Kara, in the north.
On this occasion, the agency told various administrative authorities and actors of civil society about some of the actions it undertook to ensure that Togo is fully electrified by 2030.
The AT2ER was established in May 2016 to boost rural electrification. It steers the CIZO, a project which will cost more than XOF68 billion and be carried over five years. The latter is financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and should provide power to more than two million Togolese over the period.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Lomé will host West Africa Fertilizer Forum next April 24 to 26
From next April 24 and 26, Lomé will host the West Africa Fertilizer Forum.
The event will gather major actors and all parties interested in the West African fertilizer industry, according to the Africa Fertilizer initiative, which will organize it in partnership with the Regional Fertilizer Professionals Association.
More than 200 participants from 38 countries are expected at the forum ; producers, developers and investors.
In Togo, firms like CECO Group, CIAT Sarl, and ETG Togo SA (Export Trading Group) operate in the fertilizer industry.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
These are the banks backing mobile money operators in Togo
There are no e-money institutions in Togo, unlike Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. This was revealed in a report on these institutions released by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) at the end of December 2018.
Just like Togo, Guinea-Bissau and Niger also have no e-money institutions but rather focus on partnerships between banks and telecom operators active in the mobile money segment.
In Togo, Moov Etisalat, whose mobile money offer was baptized Flooz, is the operator that entered the most partnerships with banks. The banks backing the operator are Banque Atlantique, Orabank, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, and Diamond Bank (now NSIA BANQUE)
With TMoney, public operator Togo Cellulaire partnered with Banque Togolaise pour le Commerce et l’Industrie (BTCI).
All these partnerships aim at boosting financial inclusion and allowing individuals with no bank accounts in Togo to rapidly have access to banking services.
Séna Akoda
ANPE organizes International Employment Forum
Yesterday, the International Employment Forum was held in Lomé. The event which was organized by Togo’s national employment agency (ANPE) and Migration aimed at presenting support and framework established by the agency to facilitate travel abroad, legally, for professional purpose.
The theme of the event was “Employment beyond borders”.
Among attendees were many representatives of States and institutions, such as the ECOWAS, the Canadian and Tunisian embassies.
For Edmond Comlan Amoussou, MD of ANPE, the forum aligns with a mission the agency was given by the government which is to “handle all issues related to the movement of public workers.”
This includes “freely supporting the workers interested in going abroad to either study or work, legally.”
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Oragroup to get listed next April 16
Oragroup will be listed on the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM) next April 16. The bank indeed received the approval of the regional council or public savings and financial markets (CREPMF) for the operation.
The listing, which covers 20% of the lender’s capital (floating) will take place a few months after its IPO which occured between October and November 2018.
The IPO, it should be recalled was fully subscribed and helped raise more than XOF56 billion; it actually is the largest IPO ever recorded on the BRVM.
Out of the remaining 80% of the capital, more than 50% are held by Emerging Capital Partners (ECP).
At the end of 2017, the total balance sheet of Orabank expanded 45%, from 2014, standing at €2.72 billion (XOF1,794 billion). Over the same period, its net banking product rose by 33%, to reach €164 million (XOF108 billion).
The holding let’s recall is present in 12 countries, in both West and Central Africa, and has its headquarters in Togo. With more than 139 agencies and 1,811 workers, it operates in four distinct monetary zones (WAEMU, CEMAC, Guinea and Mauritania).
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo : Mobile money transactions almost doubled between 2016 and 2017
In 2017, there were 38.13 million mobile money transactions in Togo. This figure which is almost twice that recorded in 2016 corresponded to an amount of XOF394.3 billion in 2017, against XOF263.1 billion the year before.
The data was disclosed in the BCEAO’s latest annual report on digital financial services across the WAEMU.
The rise in the number of transactions translates an increase in the number of mobile money subscribers, from 1.44 million in 2016 to 2.98 million in 2017.
Compared to 2014, the surge is even more substantial since that year the transactions amounted to only XOF5 billion.
In the WAEMU, Côte d’Ivoire has the highest rate of mobile money transactions, capturing 37.9% of all transactions recorded in the union, against a 5.92% share only for Togo.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
AGRA delegation to be present at the coming National Togolese Farmer Forum
A delegation of the African Green Revolution Alliance (AGRA) will attend the 11th National Togolese Farmer Forum of the (FNPT) which will start next April 11, in Kara.
This was reported by the minister of agriculture, animal production and fishery, after a recent top-class meeting on food security in the Sahel and West Africa, held in Brussels. A meeting during which the AGRA itself made the declaration.
The presence of AGRA delegates at the forum should help with the structural transformation of the agricultural sector.
AGRA believes that investing in agriculture is the best way to fight poverty and hunger in Africa. This is in a context where Togo’s agricultural sector needs massive investments, for example for projects like the agricultural financing incentive mechanism (MIFA).
Séna Akoda
Togo: Public debt falls below 70% at end-March 2019
From over 80% at end-2016, Togo’s public debt was below 70% at the end of March 2019. This was declared by Sani Yaya, minister of economy and finances last Tuesday during a meeting to review a mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the fourth extended credit facility (ECF) review.
The decrease results from efforts made by the government to cut down public debt. Indeed, “the major budgetary effort started in 2017 was prolonged to September 2018,” the mission said, adding that while results lowered near the end of the year, this was due to “lower revenues than expected and higher expenses.” Beside this, “structural budgetary reforms and other reform programs are moving on well.”
Let it be however noted that between December 2017 and December 2018, Togo’s external debt rose slightly from 19.9% of its GDP to 20.5%. Meanwhile, internal debt slumped from 58.8% to 56.7% over the same period.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi