Ready Study Go International (RSG), French firm specialized in helping African students travel to study abroad, in France especially, started operations in Lomé at the end of last week.

Co-founded by French-Togolese, Komi Adandzi, the firm assesses applicants’ skills and assets, toward better guiding them. It is about enabling them “easily accomplish their goals and know how to get support related to accommodation and visa guarantee,” among others.

With Togo, the company now operates in five African countries. The four others are Benin, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. Besides services mentioned earlier, RSG also finances student’s enterprises and provides pedagogic and administrative monitoring. It collaborates with various French agencies and institutions, such as the consulate and embassy of France in Togo.

Announced and presented in Lomé last April 1st by the ministry of foreign affairs, the Togolese diaspora roadmap will be presented next Saturday to the Togolese diaspora in France.

In a recent release, the Togolese embassy in France said a Togolese delegation from the ministry of diaspora will be in Paris to meet the Togolese diaspora in France and neighboring countries.

The roadmap aligns with Togo’s national development plan which relies on private sector (at a rate of 65%). It aims to ease the inclusion of the Togolese diaspora to Togo’s ambitions.

Those interested in attending the meeting have until May 23 to register.

From XOF11.3 billion in 2016 and 2017, Togo’s budget support soared to XOF34.9 billion last year, data from the BCEAO shows. Quite a leap especially considering that the amount was almost null in 2014 and 2015.

The feat is due to the effective implementation of many governance reforms, paired with a growing commitment of Togolese authorities to pursue talks with partners such as the World Bank, related to reform policies.

The Bretton Woods institution in the second half of 2018 provided a budget support of $40 million, saying “it is satisfied with its cooperation” with Togo. A disbursement conditioned by some economic reforms and announced in May that year.

This year, World Bank could provide another budgetary facility to the West African country.

In line with the Emergency Community Development Program (PUDC), the national agency supporting grassroot development (Anadeb) upgraded multiple markets in the Golf prefecture (Southern Togo). Some of the markets include that of Attiegou, Adidogomé, Baguida and Kpota Colas.

The socio-collective infrastructures have been equipped with stalls, PV-powered boreholes, toilets, and storage rooms. They cost more than XOF299 million and were inaugurated last Friday by Victoire Tomegah, minister of grassroot development, in the presence of Aliou Dia and Mazalo Katanga, respectively PNUD’s resident representative in Togo and Anadeb’s director general.

Anadeb it should be emphasized, contributed XOF2.1 billion to the PUDC. Out of this amount, about 455.2 million was invested in the maritime region (Golf and Agoè prefectures).

From August 22 to September 8, 2019, the eighth edition of the Adjafi trade fair organized by Maxcom will take place.

The theme this year is “Social security of young African entrepreneurs for inclusive growth.”

The organized indicates that advertising campaign for the fair will begin May 15 at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIT).

The event which promotes young entrepreneurs and their products is backed by the government and the WAEMU Commission, as well as various institutional mechanisms focused on youth-led entrepreneurship in Togo.

Among the latter, there is the FAIEJ which is a fund supporting economic initiatives of  youths, the MIFA, a risk-sharing mechanism promoting agricultural financing, and the National Youth Council (CNJ).

Séna Akoda

The regional mortgage financing fund (CRRH-UEMOA) raised its share capital to XOF9.589 billion (from 9.144 billion), by issuing 44,500 new shares.

The move was decided at the fund’s 10th ordinary general assembly which took place at the West African Development Bank’s (BOAD) office in Lomé, last April 25.

The assembly chaired by Christian Agossa approved a public bond issuance on the regional financial market. Monies raised in the operation, XOF60 billion, will be used to pay housing loans given by the fund’s shareholder banks.

In 2018, CRRH-UEMOA raised XOF79 billion, thus bringing to XOF200.3 billion the total amount it raised over about seven years to finance housing loans given by its 35 shareholder banks operating across the whole economic community.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Goods and services imported in Togo are now subject to quality standards. A decree was adopted May 9 in this framework by the minister of trade and industry, Kodjo Adédzé.

Under the new reform, importers must conform to standards related to normalization, certification, accreditation, environmental protection, and quality promotion set in Togo. This is stated in paragraph 7, art. 4 of the n°20096015 framework law of August 12, 2009.

The law indicates that the importer must provide proof of standard conformity. According to experts, the new reform aims at improving imports and protecting consumers.

Concerned business operators have six months to align with the newly-implemented measure says the ministry of trade.

Séna Akoda

Last Tuesday, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Togolese government met to discuss SMEs and SMIs’ access to agricultural loans. On this occasion, it was revealed that only 0.3% of businesses active in agriculture in Togo have access to banking loans.

The recent talks between the AfDB and Togolese authorities should help find ways to improve lending and loan mobilization by these businesses, according to the ministry of agriculture’s communication unit. These will support the MIFA which is a mechanism that aims to improve agricultural financing based on risk-sharing (non-related to rainfall and other hazards.

The minister also added that the objective here is to “build an ecosystem that will foster the growth of SMEs and SMIs, by improving how they are financed. This will lead to a boom in their numbers and ultimately boost the country’s job market.

Séna Akoda

Togo’s ministry of agriculture is carrying out a campaign to identify actors of the agricultural value chains.

Started end-April 2019, the move is led by 700 agents and actors targeted include producers, processors, sellers of agricultural and agro-food products and service providers.

According to the ministry, identifying these actors will help “better structure agricultural value chains and build a system to support and develop clusters.”

Actors that will be registered on the database put in place in the campaign’s framework must meet three conditions : be between 18 and 60 years ; operate in at least one of the agricultural value chains mentioned above ; and benefit from a technical support and be open to innovations.

Séna Akoda