Last Friday, Togo’s ministers’ council announced that 2018 budget was reduced by 1%, from CFA1,318,500,000,000 to CFA1,308,134,862,000.

This is due to the sociopolitical crisis that has been affecting the Togolese economy since the second half of 2017. Moreover, there are claims of education workers, an increase of subsidies to the universities of Lomé and Kara, among others. “Looking at the many needs to satisfy, paired with difficulties to raise internal resources, the government deemed necessary to streamline public expenditures, and thus amend 2018 budget which is being elaborated,” the council said.

With this in mind, President Faure Gnassingbé instructed each department “to be available and study projects submitted by local and international private sectors, so as to significantly raise private investment’s contribution to the economy”.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

As member of the African Risk Capacity-ARC, Togo was selected to host the pilot phase of a project that aims to insure risks related to flooding. This aligns with the government’s goal to make agriculture a true economic driver.

ARC will, in the framework of the project, not only identify risks related to flooding and drought, but also increase the country’s capacities in terms of disaster management.

This should attract more investments into agricultural sector by boosting investors’ confidence. Truly, these investors presently worry about risks of non-reimbursement which banks estimate to be too high, looking at production means and a lack of guarantees or insurances.

Regarding this, government fund TIRSAL, which is based on a risk-sharing principle, should be a starting point to answer this concern.

Séna Akoda

Togo’s President, Faure Essozimna, was named “champion” of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) by his peers, on May 28, 2018. This was during the fourth reunion of ministers for the treaty’s operationalization.

Faure Gnassingbé indeed provided a boost to related works by fully participating at the opening ceremony for the meeting. Present also was the president of the African Union Commission, Mahamat Faki.

The meeting aimed to harmonize bilateral agreements for Air Services in order to reach a memorandum of understanding.

Last May 22, Asky and Rwandair signed a bilateral agreement, paving the way for other members of the SAATM.

The Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) mission, carried out as part of the implementation of the Climatescope independant assessment 2018, ended on Friday 25 may 2018 after three days of intensive work.

Led by Mrs. Eleanor Lazat, the mission on the attractiveness of investments in clean energy sector was successfully completed in line with the set goals. The mission's work provided an opportunity to discuss the state of affairs and perspectives of key areas of the study, namely, the institutional and regulatory framework for the sector, investments and financing, value chains of low-carbon energies and clean energies sectors and, greenhouse gas management activities. The results of this study will be available in the October-November 2018 period.

The delegation welcomed the effective preparation of this mission by the Togolese counterparts. The delegation thanked His Excellency Mr. Ably Bidamon, Minister of Mining and Energy, and Mrs. Sandra Ablamba Johnson, National Coordinator of the Business Climate Unit to the Presidency, for the effectiveness of their strategic and technical coordination. The delegation also expressed its gratitude to Mrs. Ekoué Dédé, Minister, Advisor to the President of the Republic, for her support since the beginning of the process and for her contribution to the success of the mission.

Eléonore LAZAT, Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The Togolese Government thanks the actors of the public administration, the private sector, the civil society and development partners for their quality contribution to the work of the mission.The Togolese authorities expressed their gratitude to Bloomberg New Energy Finance for the effective cooperation during the mission and expressed their wish to establish with BNEF a strategic partnership to support our country in its efforts to enhance renewable energies.The Togolese Government takes this opportunity to renew its thanks to all the development partners that support it in the energy sector development and, particularly, in the promotion of renewable energies.Participants from the private sector and the civil society expressed their satisfaction at being associated with the mission and indicated their interest in continuing, at national level, exchanges with the government on the improvement of the attractiveness of the investment framework in renewable energy sector and on their effective participation in the promotion of this priority sector.It should be noted that in line with its National Development Plan (PND) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Togo aims to achieve by 2030, an electrification rate of 100% with 50% renewable energy in its energy mix, to ensure its energy independence, and to contribute to a better consideration of the climate change related aspects in line with the commitments made at international level, notably through the Paris Agreement. Achieving these ambitions requires a significant mobilization of private financing in addition to public resources.In light of this fact, stakeholders noted the importance of capitalizing on the results of the study to support government efforts to mobilize investment for the renewable energy sector. More specifically, the work recommended that our country utilize the results of Climatescope:

1. To give greater global visibility to the efforts made by Togo to create a favorable business climate for the promotion of renewable energies;

2. To inform a wide range of international investors and financing institutions, about current opportunities and future potentials offered by Togo's clean energy sector;

3. To highlight, at international level, the efforts made by Togo in implementing its "Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)" under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including commitments on greenhouse gaz mitigation measures;

4. To establish a multi-stakeholder process to identify Togo's comparative advantages to strengthen and challenges to meet so as to provide private investors with a more attractive and competitive framework for renewable energy, by drawing lessons from the experience and the evolution of the other 99 countries covered by the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Climatescope assessment.

5. To agree on a roadmap to progressively improve the attractiveness of investments in renewable energy sector by capitalizing on the approach used by Togo to improve Doing Business.   

To get the most out of the work, the Togolese government intends to organize after the publication of the assessment report, a workshop for capitalizing the results in order to draw the implications of actions for a better attractiveness and an increased competitiveness of renewable energy sector, a key sector for economic growth and people's welfare. 

The government expresses its deep gratitude to the Regional Center for Collaboration of West African Development Bank / United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to the World Bank, which indicated during the mission, their willingness to support in the implementation of the study capitalization workshop.

The data collection of the assessment going on until the end of June 2018, the Presidency's Business Climate Unit and the Ministry of Mining and Energy call upon the stakeholders involved to provide, after this mission, all additional relevant information for an optimal analysis of Togo's attractiveness in terms of investments in  the clean energy sector.

For further information, please refer to the address below

Business Climate Unit (in French CCA)

Presidency of the Togolese Republic

secretariatccatogo at gmail.com

cca.togofirst at gmail.com

In 2017, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) secured CFA1.3 billion of grants from the Global Environment Fund (GEF) for clean energies development in Togo. This was disclosed by the institution’s president, Christian Adovèlandé, ahead of the 45^th anniversary of the bank.

The financing was provided to “boost Climate projects that are likely to benefit from funding falling under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," Adovèlandé added.  

By 2021, the Lomé-based Bank aims to bring to CFA50 billion, funds mobilized for climate and clean energies.

Let it be noted that by 2030, Togo plans to increase renewables’ share in its energy mix to 50%.

Fiacre E. Kakpo 

May 25, the Togolese Revenue Office (OTR-Office Togolais des Recettes) launched at its headquarters in Lomé, a national census to develop a land inventory. This was disclosed to the press by tax commissioner, Adoyi Esso-Wavana Ahmed.

According to the commissioner, before collecting land tax, it is important to have crucial information about the given land, such as the name of its true owner or its usage; is it for a business or just a habitation?  Those are the details that will be found in the inventory.

The project will cover non-built properties, administrative buildings, and more.

In effect, starting next week, census agents trained solely for this mission will be deployed (with an ID badge) across the country, to get relevant data.

Beyond the need for a land inventory, the census aims at updating land data related to business operators. Moreover, data collected should help ease addressing in Lomé, and enable OTR develop a digital cadaster.

The campaign is to last three months in Lomé and will then be extended to other parts of the country.

Séna Akoda

A group of ten Togolese startups led by the minister of posts and digital economy, Cina Lawson, is currently in Paris for the Vivatech conference, which is under the patronage of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

“I came with about ten entrepreneurs who develop many apps. I would like to congratulate them for their constant genius,” the minister said in a tweet, adding that she is “proud to see Togo so well represented at such a big tech rendezvous”.  

This third edition of the event puts Africa forward, with a space especially dedicated to about 100 African startups. The Togolese delegation will have the chance to meet major global actors of the tech industry.

Already, Cina Lawson met with Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagamé, and UBA’s CEO, Tony Elumelu. She also had discussions with Edem Fiadjoe, CEO of JetSolutions, and Helton Yawovi, CEO of DashmakeStartup, two young Togolese of the diaspora.

It is important to indicate that President Macron has already promised to disburse €65 million for African startups, at the conference.