The first digital entrepreneurship and student forum (FENES) will begin next May 31 at the Palais des Congrès of Lomé. This was disclosed yesterday by the event’s organization committee at a press conference.

Promoted by Enginnova and backed by the German cooperation, the forum aims to “democratize and foster digital entrepreneurship among students and young startups,” according to Joël Atakpa, CEO of ZONOA.  

Exhibitions, exchange panels and a contest rewarding digital projects will take place during the occasion. For the contest, three prizes will be given. The first is the entrepreneurial innovation prize (CFA500,000), social entrepreneurship prize (CFA300,000) and the female entrepreneurship prize (CFA200,000). Each winner of these prizes will attend the 2020 Vivatech fair in Paris.

Overall, more than 200 candidates registered for the contest and only 20 have been selected.

According to Joël Agboglo, CEO of Enginnova, the FENES should become Africa’s Vivatech.

Carina Lange, representative of the German cooperation, said “this event is a great platform for young entrepreneurs in Togo. It is very important to show the public what the youth are doing in terms of digital innovations and how they live digital transformation.”

Séna Akoda

Next June 12, The 2019 AfroMarketers Tour will stop by Lomé, at the Eda Oba hotel.

Roundtables, keynotes, workshops and networking sessions revolving around digital technology and its professional and marketing use are planned in the event’s framework. There will also be a challenge co-organized with a major local university.

More than 150 decision-makers, marketing and digital communication professionals, as well as around 20 speakers are expected at the event.

The tour will begin in Ouagadougou (June 10), before coming to Lomé, and then head to Cotonou and Dakar (October 2019) and will close in Abidjan (January 2020). Overall, more than 1,000 decision-makers, professionals and 80 speakers will attend the event through the five capitals.

The European Commission’s Vice President, Jyrki Katainen, will co-chair the opening ceremony of the Togo-EU economic forum which will take place in Lomé on June 13-14, 2019.

Katainen, in this framework, urged European investors to “cease this unique opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio and expand their footprint towards a win-win partnership between the European Union and Togo.”

The event falls under the EU’s new external action paradigm, one enacted via the launch of the European Union’s Investment Plan. The latter aims at boosting European private investment, through a new “Africa-Europe Alliance for jobs and sustainable investments.”

This alliance for its part is intended to deepen trade and economic ties between the EU and Africa, by focusing EU’s external action on easing investment and creating jobs in Africa. In this regard, the coming forum should enhance “the mobilization of private funds to generate growth and jobs in Togo.”

Various EU financings to support private investment will be presented at the forum. Also, 100 projects, over about 400 submitted, could be selected and financed by potential European investors on this occasion. 

Séna Akoda

A total of 391 applications were submitted in response to the call for projects relative to the coming EU-Togo economic forum. Out of these, 100 will be selected by the event’s organization committee.

Projects submitted are in the following sectors: agro-food, agriculture, banking and insurance, construction and related materials, trade, services, transport and logistics.

Selected applicants will present their projects to potential investors at B2B meetings that will take place during the forum. The event aligns with Togo’s national development plan and will serve as a connection platform for Togolese and European investors.

It is to be held next June 13-14, in Lomé. Nearly 400 participants, including 300 investors from the EU and Togo are expected to attend.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

To tackle global warming effects, the PNUD will inject $500,000 in a project that will help Togo implement its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC) in line with the Paris Agreement. The objective here is to turn the INDC into an investment plan pegged to the country’s national development plan.

This was disclosed by the PNUD’s communication cell, after a meeting May 20 between Aliou Dia, resident representative of the institution in Togo, and David Olatokoun Wonou, minister of environment and sustainable development. 

The ministry plans on shortly sending a support request to the INDC Partnership which Togo is a part of, in regard to the project. The latter, in the long term, should boost the country’s resilience against climate change.

The Paris Agreement is the first global agreement aimed at tackling global warming. It was adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), in Paris.

Séna Akoda

Last Friday, a workshop on Leadership, Citizenship, and opportunities related to the 2018-2022 national development plan (2018-2022 PND) was held. This was in the Amou prefecture (168 km north of Lomé)

The meeting’s theme was “challenges related to the PND and opportunities for youth.” It is part of a battery of workshops organized by the ministry of youth aiming to inform Togo’s youth about key projects and job opportunities relevant to the PND.

The workshops will take place in about 10 prefectures targeting 150 youths per community.

The next prefectures targeted are Vo, Avé, Danyi, Sotouboua, Mô, Dankpen, Binah, Kpendjal and Cinkassé.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo’s minister of posts, digital economy and technological innovations received last Saturday, the Alumni Public Service Award from Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). She thus becomes the first female African political figure to win this award.

“What great honor to receive today the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Public Service Award,” the Togolese official declared. “I hope this prize will inspire a generation of African women and young leaders pushing them to commit to improving others’ lives,” she added.

She was awarded for contributing to the development of ICT and digital industry in Togo, using them for the profit of social causes. For example, she launched Campus WiFi, a project that provides free access to broadband internet in all public universities and health facilities in the country. There is also Eco CCP, a mobile money savings account, the digital work environment (ENT) which benefits high schools, etc.

The Alumni Public Service Award, which is given to former students who “greatly improved human condition at local, provincial, national or international scale,” is the second prize received by Lawson after the first place of Napoléons Awards, under the women category. 

Séna Akoda