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 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

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

In 2017, Togo’s goods exports amounted to $982 million, a recent commodity and base products report by UNCTAD revealed.

This amount is lower than the average recorded by the country over the 2013-2017 period, knowingly $1,175 million.

In details, the share of base products in goods exports two years ago was 72%, corresponding to $706 million. Average from 2013 to 2017 is 69%.

The UNCTAD further indicates that agricultural output represented 23% of Togolese exports over the year under review. Gross fertilizer exports represented about 4% of total exports.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Five weeks. That is how much time tech entrepreneurs from Togo and other African countries have left to apply for the 2019 Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative, launched last March by the Jack Ma foundation.

Deadline of application is June 30 and the event will reward the continent’s ten best tech entrepreneurs of the year. Winners will share a $1 million grant funding equally.

Launched in 2018, the initiative has a budget of $10 million to be distributed over a 10-year period. Through the contest, Ma aims to support African tech entrepreneurs in their efforts to build a more sustainable and inclusive Africa for the future.

“What I can do, personally, through the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative, is to commit to give out $10 million over 10 years to help young entrepreneurs,” says Jack Ma, founder of giant tech company Alibaba.

Interested entrepreneurs must be from any of the 54 African countries and having founded a registered business in the African country in which they operate. Also, they must have been operational for at least three years and show earnings for these years. Their products or services must also be adapted to the continent’s needs.

Applications can be filled on the Netpreneur Africa website.   

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Under its expansion strategy, the International Conference of African States on Insurance and Reinsurance Supervision (CICA-RE) plans on raising its capital from XOF30 billion to XOF50 billion by 2020.

To this end, the institution will seek out big investors. It should be noted that its actual stakeholders include member States, insurance and reinsurance firms, as well as financial institutions.  

“The objective is to reach out to other institutions to strengthen the company’s shareholding,” reliable sources indicate. The same sources revealed that a legal session in favor of CICA-RE will be instituted.

Starting from 2020, insurance firms will cede to the institution 5% of businesses that will subscribe to their services, with the exception of some like health. Moreover, in cases of accidents, CICA-RE will bear 5% of related care. This should help retain more premiums on the market.   

Séna Akoda

Between the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns, Togo’s cotton output soared by 17%. The information was disclosed as the new cotton campaign was launched in Kara, Northern region.

From, 117,000 tons in 2017/18, volumes of cotton produced by the country exceeded 137,000 tons during the past season. While significant, the increase remains lower than expected.

The country had indeed forecasted its “white gold” output to reach 140,000 tons for 180,000 ha of cultivated areas. Regardless, the country nears its 2022 goal, knowingly 200,000 tons.

Togo’s ministry of water recently provided a contract valued at XOF194 million to ECM Sarl, a solar power specialized firm, and Vergnet Hydro, French firm that provides safe water supply systems and pumping equipment to rural areas especially.

Under the contract, solar-powered drinking water supply systems are to be installed in Nadiégou, Polougou, Kankangbane and Djalière, villages located in the Savanes region.

“Boreholes are very deep so pumps will be installed at a depth of 165m-220m,” said Joël Ménager, Head of Proposals at Vergnet Hydro, explaining the need for partnership with ECM Sarl. “Providing safe water to the people of these villages by harnessing solar power will enable our two companies show their technical know-how,” added Thierry Barbotte, Managing Director, Vergnet Hydro.

The contract falls under a project to improve sanitary conditions in rural areas and schools across the Savanes region (PASSCO). The latter is steered and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).

All water systems should be installed in September 2019.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi