Togo First
What is Togo’s rank in the African e-commerce sector?
Earlier this week, the UNCTAD published the 2018 UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index, which determines the place of e-commerce in 151 economies. Four key indicators are considered in this index.
For Togo, this edition portrays a nascent and lagging e-commerce sector, following the same trend as in Africa that is clearly poorly prepared for e-commerce and taking less advantage of the digital opportunities than the rest of the world.
Only 12% of Togolese use internet; a percentage far below the average in Africa. However, according to the UNCTAD, 45% of the population over 15 years old have an account with a financial institution or a mobile money account making the west African country one of the countries with higher financial inclusion.
According to the report, as far as security is concerned, Togo has 19 secure internet servers per million of residents while Mauritius, Nigeria and South Africa, the three leaders in that regard in Africa have respectively 56, 52 and 83 secure servers per 1 million residents.
For the fourth indicator of that index, development of postal services, Togo scored 41 over 100.
The UNCTAD’s index also measures the percentage of individuals who make online purchases. No figure has been mentioned in that criteria for Togo.
Overall, Togo lost ten places to become the 21st in Africa. Within the Ecowas region, the country is outrun by Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, which is the leader of e-commerce within WAEMU.
Côte d’Ivoire is 24th , Mali 28th , Burkina Faso 30th and Benin 33rd. The lower rank of the index in Africa are obtained by Guinea (42nd), Chad (43rd) and Niger (44th).
In the World index, Togo is 121st. In October 2018, in a report published in Ouagadougou, the UNCTAD, estimated that Togo still had to make efforts in the e-commerce sector. The institution estimated that limited online payments and difficult deliveries out of Lomé are the main roadblocks to the development of e-commerce in the country.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo represented at the Inter-African Trade Fair, in Egypt
Togolese economic operators are taking part in the 1st Inter-African Trade Fair -IATF- currently being held in Cairo, Egypt. The 7-day show, jointly organized by the African Union, Afreximbank and the Egyptian government, opened doors December 11.
It aims to boost intra-African trade and support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECA), the agreement of which was signed in March this year by 44 African Heads of State and Government at the AU Extraordinary Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
IATF provides a platform for sharing information on trade, investment and the market. The idea is to bring buyers, sellers, investors, all together to discuss and conclude business deals.
During the event, Togolese representatives will promote their country's new national development plan and seek substantial private funding for its implementation.
This trade fair, let’s note, will be organized every two years. It will provide information on the market, trade and serve as a contact point between the different players of African trade.
Séna Akoda
Togo’s outstanding public debt securities exceeded CFA1,000 billion at the end of September 2018
The amount remaining to be paid by Togo as public debt securities issued via the regional financial market of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) has, for the first time, exceeded 1,000 billion CFA. Indeed, BCEAO indicates, the figure stood at 1,039.7 billion at the end of September 2018.
According to the Apex bank, the volume of outstanding public debt securities, which is included in the country’s internal debt, is up 7% compared to end-September 2017. Then, the figure stood at CFA968.3 billion.
Of the outstanding amount, 90% are bonds while remaining 10% are treasury bills. In detail, the bonds soared 20% over the period under review, standing at 936.8 billion, whereas bills tumbled 46% down to 102.9 billion.
Across the Union, overall outstanding public debt securities was estimated at 9,724.5 billion CFA at the end of September 2018, against 8,925.2 billion the year before.
Côtre d’Ivoire is, in the Union, the greatest issuer with an outstanding State debt securities of 3,295.1 billion. Right after it comes Benin, with an outstanding debt of 1,437.2 billion.
Togo to host its third national forum on internal audit next month
With support from the Francophone Union for Internal Audit (UFAI), The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA-Togo) will organize from January 9 to 11, 2019, the third edition of Togo’s national forum for internal audit.
Themed “Internal audit for Concerned Parties”, the upcoming edition will take place in two sessions. The first which is to take place on Jan 9 will be dedicated to administrators and managing directors and focus on “business ethics, the assessment of an organization’s strategic performance”, among others. The second part which will take place on January 10 and 11 will include a forum, eight plenary meetings and 12 workshops.
Themes that will be discussed during the plenary sessions include : “the contribution of internal audit to the improvement of public governance”; “collaborating to resist crises”; “New challenges: blockchain, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrencies”; “Elaborating a yearly audit plan in 2019: main traps to avoid”.
Séna Akoda
ABREC increases capital by CFA182 million to improve operations
Following deliberations last July 25, the African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC) recently increased its capital by CFA182 million.
In detail, Togo First learns, 182 new shares with a nominal value of one million were issued to this end. According to the document disclosing the information, the shares have been fully subscribed by legal entities with preferential subscription rights, proportionally to receivables they own in the company.
With the capital increase operation, ABREC’s capital is now valued at two billion and one million CFA. With this, the company should be able to better fulfill its goals.
Launched in 2009, ABREC is a Lomé-based Company that works to promote renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies, to help mitigate climate change in Africa near West African countries.
Séna Akoda
Togo: GDP exceeded 5% last quarter, a first since end-2016
For the first time since the end of 2016, economic growth (GDP) in Togo exceeded 5%, data from the BCEAO shows.
Indeed, the figure which stood at 4.4% in 2017, 4.5% in Q1 2018 and 4.7% in Q2 2018, passed 5% at the end of the past quarter. For the whole year, Togo’s average GDP is expected to stand at 4.9%.
Compared to other countries of the sub-region like Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso whose economic activity was spurred by a rise in production and prices of commodities, Togo’s GDP still lags behind.
However, in 2019, the country, leveraging its national development plan (PND) which aims at transforming, structurally, the economy, eyes a growth rate of more than 6%, and 7% by 2022.
These forecasts’ concretization greatly depend on the improvement of the socio-political context.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Gozem teams up with Ogar Insurance and Togo Assistance to cover its taxi and moto drivers, in Lomé
Gozem, Togo’s first taxi and moto-taxi reservation platform, has “signed two strategic partnership agreements with insurer Ogar Insurance and Togo Assistance to cover its partnering drivers in Lomé”.
“These partnerships aim to provide for all Gozem drivers an insurance contract with Ogar Insurance and affiliate them to Togo Assistance so they are taken care of in the event of an emergency,” reads the statement. This translates Gozem’s desire to help its drivers become more competitive in Togo’s urban transport and make its users safer.
“We are happy to provide our users and drivers with many insurances that will guarantee their safety while on the move,” said Farouk Tchabana, Head of Operations at Gozem. “These partnerships perfectly represent Gozem’s strategy to support its drivers by professionalizing their craft while protecting its customers,” he added.
“Ogar is proud to put its expertise at the service of Gozem which will become one of the major players of Togo’s urban transport sector,” said for his part Anouar Boukari, Technical and Commercial Director at Ogar Insurance. “Through this partnership, our goal is to improve our actions’ efficiency toward our drivers,” he then added.
Still in line with its goal to deliver a reliable and safe service, Gozem trains its drivers before the start of their partnership. The training which is based on the knowledge of the Highway Code and the utilization of the Gozem app teaches drivers this code and helps provide a service of quality to the app’s users.
All these initiatives fall under the start-up’s expansion strategy in Lomé.
Séna Akoda
Togo to host its first craft fair on Dec 14-16, 2018
From December 14 to 16, 2018, Lomé will be hosting its first international craft fair. Initiated by two firms, one from Togo and another from Benin, the fair aims at improving education in Africa and gathering key actors of this sector in Togo.
Expected at the event are schools from Togo and the region, firms and entrepreneurs. These are to introduce students, parents and professionals to reconversion and to promising professions.
The fair which is to take place at the Palais des Congrès is open to the public, freely.
Activities planned on the occasion include conferences, workshops, exhibition to inform about careers and professions with enterprises, as well as B2B meetings.
Séna Akoda
BRVM reveals second batch of SMEs joining its Elite BRVM Lounge program
As announced last week, the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), released on Monday the second batch of 10 enterprises, under its Elite BRVM Lounge program.
Developed by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), this program is a “dynamic ecosystem revolving around the enterprise and aiming to support and foster innovation, entrepreneurship and growth”. Though their names are yet to be known, the 10 SMEs selected under this second batch come from Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal, sources indicate.
This second batch of firms selected to adhere to the Elite BRVM Lounge adds to another of 10 businesses also. Through this scheme, WAEMU’s stock market wants to “help boost capacities of firms that have a high-growth potential across the sub-region, thus enabling them to access a new source of financing via WAEMU’s regional financial market”.
Let’s recall that a Togolese firm, Sodigaz, was among the first ten companies selected to join the program. The other nine were ATC-IB (Benin ; wood industry) Bénin Petro, Isocel Télécoms (telecommunications-Internet), ASI BF (Burkina Faso), Général des assurances (Burkina Faso), ENSBTP (Côte d'Ivoire), Sodigaz Mali, Neurotech (Senegal; IT solutions) and Technologies Services (Senegal, medical equipment supplier).
Séna Akoda
Ghana-Togo Maritime Boundary Dispute : For the third time, negotiations fail
After three rounds of talks, Ghana and Togo failed to reach an agreement to end their maritime boundary delimitation dispute.
“Given the three rounds of negotiations so far, it is quite possible that we are not reaching consensus very soon,” said Lawrence Apaalse, Head of Ghana’s Technical team negotiating the maritime boundary delimitation with Togo.
In case the talks fail definitely, the Ghanaian official says a third party could help them settle the dispute.
However, before getting to that extent, Apaalse who is also the Chief Director of the Ministry of Energy said that beside meetings between the two countries’ technical team, their respective presidents had made some diplomatic commitments which should be activated to reach an amicable solution.
After Togo strongly opposed Ghana for its oil and gas activities near their shared border, it had to stop them in December last year.
Indeed, after claiming the zone of activity exploited by Ghana, Togolese authorities seized two seismic vessels from Ghana hence setting the disagreement and actual talks.
Now, as Ghana’s navy moved to the conflict area, Lomé is not pleased and demanded that measures are taken for the navy to exit the zone.
Fiacre E. Kakpo