Togo First
Mandela Washington Fellowship: 10 young Togolese to fly to U.S. for the program
The U.S. embassy just released the names of the 10 young Togolese selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF), which is the major program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
The young leaders will be leaving Lomé in June for a six-week training in the U.S. They operate in various domains:
Leadership and civic commitment
- Aicha MALLE
- Nouhoum Jonas AKONDO
- Elom Jose ADOBOE.
Business and Entrepreneurship
- Djatougbe Akouvi AZIAKA
- Assiongbon FOLI-BEBE
- Kanyi FOLLY-NOTSRON
- Faïzah SABI.
Public Managemenent
- Afi Victorine DAWONOU
- Denis Koffi DOLA
- Essi Farida GERALDO.
During their stay in the United States, these youths will attend classes in some of the country’s most prestigious universities, as well as a top-class summit in Washington.
Launched in 2013 by former U.S. president Barack Obama as he was visiting Africa, the program enrolls every year around 1,000 young African leaders, providing them with academic and leadership training, across various domains. In 2017, 48 African countries were represented by their youths (25-35 years old).
This year, the MWF will enable 700 young African leaders to hone their skills in a U.S. university.
According to the U.S. embassy, in Togo, the Yali attests of the United States’ commitment to African youth, which it believes is capable of shaping the continent’s future, through many initiatives.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: New cotton season launched with production target of 140,000 tons
Today, the new cotton season opened in Kara, in the northern region. For this 2018/19 season, the country eyes an output of 140,000 tons based on 180,000 ha of sown areas. This production is about 20% more than that recorded during the past season, knowingly 117,000 tons.
This season, price to producers will be lower, standing at 250 CFA, against 260 CFA last year, and 240 CFA the year before that (2016/17). To balance this decrease and encourage farmers, the State decided to reduce costs of various input, through a subsidy.
In 2017/18, cotton farmers gained more than 17.5 billion CFA from selling their yield, a figure that the government expects to be higher this season.
The government, let’s indicate, aims to achieve an output of 200,000 tons by 2022 and the Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo (NSCT) which is in charge of the sector is doing everything to meet this target.
Cotton contributes 40% of Togo’s exports.
Fiacre Kakpo
BOAD to raise CFA50 billion for climate-related projects, by 2021, to benefit West African region
The West African Development Bank (BOAD), based in Lomé, plans to raise CFA50 billion each year for projects aiming to mitigate global warming, such as clean energy projects.
“We have engaged various processes aiming to expand our portfolio of climate projects that are likely to be submitted to financial mechanisms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We wish to raise CFA50 billion every year, by 2021,” said BOAD’s President, Christian Adovèlandè.
With its “Investment grade” profile, the institution meets requirements needed to achieve this goal, Adovèlandè said.
Continuing, he declared: “First results were obtained in 2017, when we mobilized CFA1.3 billion from the World Environment Fund (WEF) for clean energy in Togo; CFA4.9 billion from the Adaptation Fund (AF) for climate-smart agriculture in Guinea Bissau.”
BOAD started looking into environmental issues since 2003. Last March, the institution announced it had invested more than CFA5,000 billion for the West African integration area.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: New appointments at Ministry of Finance
New appointments were made within Togo’s ministry of finance and economy.
Sallah Ataovi Soeké, previously central inspector was appointed general inspector of treasury.
Emegnimo Elonyo, previously central inspector of treasury was raised to the position of deputy director general of treasury and public accountability.
Next is Atekissim Alimondom, who was previously central inspector of treasury also. He will now be director of treasury.
The new appointments fall under the restructuring process started last January 11, at the ministry of finance and continued March 7.
Séna Akoda
Togo: RJA offers 7,000 seedlings to cashew farmers, in Kara
In Togo, the Active Youth Association (RJA) which fights global warming just made a significant investment in cashew farming in Kara, in the North.
On Monday, May 29, 2018, this group provided 7,000 cashew seedlings worth CFA5 million to farmers, via institutions in charge.
Through this, they wish to, not only boost cashew output, but also help fight desertification.
The move is surely good news for the cashew industry whose footprint has expanded greatly over the past years. Indeed, in 2016, Togo exported 190 tons and 161 tons of cashew nuts to the European Union and the United States, respectively.
In fact, given its growing presence in the local agricultural sector, during the sixth Agrifood and Agricultural International Fair of Lomé (SIALO) held in 2017, a whole day was dedicated to the crop. This allowed a better exposure of the sector and its opportunities to the public.
Togo’s cotton output rose by 8% in 2017/18
In the 2017/18 season, Togo’s cotton output rose by 8% to 117,000 tons, sources from the government revealed Wednesday. This is far below initial target which was 130,000 tons.
Average price to producers was increased to CFA260/kg as compared to CFA240 the previous season.
According to Nana Adam Nanfame, Managing Director of Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo (NSCT), cited by Reuters, harvest was impaired by low rains, but was balanced by a greater sown area.
For the 2018/19 season, officials expect an output of 140,000 tons. By 2022, this output should rise to 220,000 tons, with a 95% top quality rate, and an average field yield of 1600kg/ha. More than 200,000 farmers would have to commit to achieve this goal.
Cotton, let’s remind, contributes about 40% of Togo’s exports.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Government to set up another LNG-fired thermal plant in Lomé
To meet growing power demand, Togo’s government plans to build in the port area another thermal plant, with a 60 MW output (extensible). This was revealed to Togo First by the minister of energy and mining, Marc Ably Bidamon.
The new plant will be supplied mainly with liquefied natural gas (LNG) coming from Equatorial Guinea, which intends to make Togo a hub that will supply landlocked nations.
According to the minister, talks for the project are much advanced. “We launched a call for proposals and four firms (ed. note: two of which are regrouping into a consortium) were invited to take part to it,” he said. First, there is the Siemens-Eranove consortium with the German offering to install equipment and leave its Ivorian partner to run the facility. Next, are Turkish Aksa, Italian Ascot and U.S ContourGlobal but the latter was not interested.
The two best proposals were that of Siemens and Aksa. “Now further talks are undergoing to decide who will set up the power plant,” said Marc Ably Bidamon, assuring that an agreement should be reached in the weeks to come.
The new plant, let’s recall, is the second in Lomé. The first which has a capacity of 100MW is operated by ContourGlobal.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Equatorial Guinea to use Lomé’s port as medium to supply landlocked nations with LNG
Last April, Togo and Equatorial Guinea’s respective ministers of energy signed a memorandum of understanding to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the second nation to the first.
Now, the Togolese minister, Marc Ably Bidamon, revealed that Equatorial Guinea actually intends to use Togo’s port as a medium to supply landlocked nations of the region with LNG.
Once at the port of Lomé, LNG sent by Equatorial Guinea will be regasified before being transported to landlocked nations, namely Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
World Bank commits to support Togo’s 2018 budget
World Bank could provide a budget support to Togo this year. This was disclosed by President Faure Gnassingbé, after meeting with a World Bank delegation led by the institution’s director Pierre Laporte in Togo.
The commitment -$40 million- was actually announced by Laporte, and according to President Gnassingbé, it aims to sustain a cooperation of quality between the institution and Togo, a cooperation which the leader lauds.
During the meeting, the Bretton Woods institution discussed this cooperation as well as the government’s efforts regarding air transport, referring in this aspect to the recent ministerial meeting for the operationalization of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).
Let it be recalled that so far, the World Bank has invested more than $320 million in Togo, spread across various projects (in the sectors of energy, mining, social, etc.)
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Regional integration : Togo and Burkina’s customs now connected, digitally
On May 28, a new milestone was reached by Togo and Burkina Faso regarding regional integration. On that day, IT systems of both countries’ tax offices were connected. The related ceremony took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital.
The interconnection project was developed by the WAEMU, with the financial support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Technical support will be provided by UNCTAD with the Sydonia World system that the two tax administrations use. Total cost for the project is more than CFA1.09 billion.
According to officials, this first interconnection project will considerably help reduce procedures delay along the Lomé-Ouaga corridor, where transit of goods (39%) imported by Burkina Faso occur. In effect, both tax administrations wish to reduce to two hours, at most, time spent at the opposed control stations of Cinkassé; this duration actually takes two to three days. The project would also better fight fraud by improving transparency in fiscal transactions between both nations.
Fiacre E. Kakpo