Togo First
Togolese Edoh Kossi Amenounve appointed as new head of AfricaFinLab, a newly formed entity to boost finance sector in Africa
Togolese Dr. Edoh Kossi Amenounve, managing director of the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM) is the new president of AfricaFinLab.
This institution, created March 28, 2018, by Paris Europlace, BRVM (of which Togo is a member) and various other partners, is a brainstorming laboratory aiming to support and promote fintechs in Africa.
It was created in response to the transformation of the world of finance which is getting more direct, digital, innovative and skill-demanding.
AfricaFinLab should help mobilize consequent funding, ranging between $600 billion to $1,200 billion every year, according to CNUCED. These monies will be spent to finance economic growth, diversify African economies and modernize basic infrastructures among others.
“BRVM is happy to contribute to the development of finance, and subsequently to Africa’s development. This laboratory will be an incubator of new ideas and new talents that will help build the financial Africa of tomorrow,” the newly appointed president said.
After big enterprises, OTR now trains 400 medium enterprises to online declaration
Togo’s revenue office (OTR), in the framework of its support to local firms with digitalization process, has launched a training programme on online declaration for medium enterprises. A first meeting was held in this regard on March 19-23, 2018 in the IT room of the customs and indirect taxation office (CDDI in French). Another workshop will take place next April 4th, and closes on April 10th. About 400 medium enterprises will benefit from the two workshops.
Top authorities of the Office, namely those in charge of taxpayers’ education, said this training on online tax declaration, is spurred by a desire to help medium enterprises easily declare and pay their taxes. They can do this by accessing OTR’s website: www.otr.tg. There, they can declare their taxes, get an issuance slips and payment receipts.
Two years ago, it was big Togolese enterprises, still on OTR’s initiative, that received the same training on online declaration. For these businesses, a revision workshop will be organized in the next days to get them more used to the procedure.
Togo: National Development Plan to be launched next July
Togo’s government is getting ready to officially adopt, next April, the 2018-2022 national development plan (PND 2018-2022), Financial Afrik reported.
The five-year plan which will substitute the accelerated growth and job promotion strategy (SCAPE 2013-2017) whose performances were less satisfying than expected, should enter its operational phase at the beginning of next semester.
The national development plan, let’s recall, comprises three main components. First, the establishment of a logistic hub of excellence for international trade; Second, boosting employment by developing agricultural processing, manufacturing and extractive industry poles and lastly, consolidating social development and inclusion mechanisms.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Foreign investments : Togo gains four ranks in Quantum Global’s African Investment Index
Research firm Quantum Global Research Lab, research division of Swiss investment and consulting group Quantum Global, just released the “Africa Investment Index (AII) 2018”. This index ranked African nations based on their level of attractiveness to foreign investments in 2017.
In this edition, Morocco is the number one destination of foreign investments. Togo for its part rose four spots to stand at the 28th position.
Togo, having recorded the 11th highest growth rate in Africa, in 2017, also recorded good results in regards to economic growth, liquidity, risk factors and business climate.
According to the report, 26% of all investments made in Togo were domestic. This is 2% more than in 2016.
With the contribution of the Single Desk for External Trade (GUCE) and various reforms implemented to improve business climate, over the past few years, the country aims to become a trade-logistic hub in the region. It is the 7th nation to attract foreign investments.
Moreover, Togo keeps improving its risk profile according to its ranking on the “real interest rate” index. Indeed, it gained two ranks on this index, which assesses real return on investor’s capital, to stand at the tenth position. On the exchange risk index, the country soared by nine spots also to be 10th. This is mainly due to the fact that the country’s currency, the CFA, is pegged to the Euro.
Globally, Morocco (1st) is followed by Egypt, Algeria, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya and Senegal.
AII is an annual ranking based on six main factors, namely: growth factor, liquidity (real interest rate and money supply), risk factor (exchange rate, import coverage rate, external debt and balance of payments), business environment, demography and social capital.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togocom Group unveils its ambitions for the coming years
Born from the merging of Togo Telecom’s landline and mobile networks (Togo Telecom and Togo Cellulaire), Togocom Group wants to be the leading provider of internet services in Togo. This comes “after years of poor performances, especially regarding its internet offer, years over which its market shares shrank with the arrival of rude competitors”.
The firm’s authorities plan to achieve their goal by establishing many interconnected network spots, to expand broadband coverage across the nation. They will leverage on all available assets of both landline and mobile networks to this effect.
But first, they must go through some transformation. This includes a logo change, one with the colors of the Togolese flag, to incarnate their vision. “This new logo bears our ambition, which is to become in the coming years a reference in the region. Our first achievements, under our transformation process, attest that we have what it takes to contribute to the vision of the President, His Excellency Faure Essozima Gnassinbé,” said Togocom’s new Managing Director, Affoh Atcha-Dedji (photo).
At the end of December 2016, broadband’s penetration rate, via landline and mobile networks, was at 20%. This, the newly formed group wants to raise, by deploying fiber optic based broadband in Lomé and other towns, across Togo.
Togo: PAEIJ-SP attracts about CFA1 billion during 2017-18 season
In Togo, the Programme for Job Promotion and Youth Insertion in Profitable Sectors (PAEIJ-SP) aims to create favorable conditions for a more inclusive economic growth by boosting youth employment and promoting entrepreneurship in the maize, cassava, soy and small ruminants sectors.
To achieve its objectives, “PAEIJ-SP bases its strategy on agricultural value chains and developing agro-industrial clusters in order to consolidate the country’s industrial base, the programme’s coordinator, Yves Agbo, revealed to Togo First”.
During the 2017-18 season, from August 2017 to February 2018, the programme attracted CFA1 billion of funds, from its main partners and actors.
These, in detail, were allocated to structuring firms (CFA820,342,867), single entrepreneurs and farmers’ groups (CFA118,036,052).
Regarding access to the funding, two desks were established. One managed by a financial operator where loans ranging between 20 and 150 million CFA. Here, structuring businesses (SMEs and SMIs) will be eligible for the loans given that they submit a viable business plan showing that the funds will be used to boost one of the value chains covered by the programme.
The other desk will be handled by microfinance institutions. Here, loans ranging between CFA300,000 and CFA20 million will be provided, as mentioned earlier, to single entrepreneurs and groups of producers.
Togo: Subsistence crop output soared 7% in 2017-18 season
Subsistence crop production in Togo rose by 7% during the 2017-2018 season. This was disclosed by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in its March 2018 report on economic integration policies within the WAEMU.
The increase was spurred by favorable weather recorded throughout 2017 in the sub-region. According to the report, the union’s subsistence crop output soared by 6.1% over the period reviewed. BCEAO attributes this progression to a surge in tubers (+6.5%) and grain (+6.2%) outputs.
It should be noted that Togo’s performance exceeds that of Burkina Faso (+6.2%), Benin (+5.7%) and Mali (+4.3%). Highest performances recorded in the region however came from Guinea Bissau (+8%), Senegal (+8%) and Côte d’Ivoire (+7.49%).
In Togo, subsistence crop farming contributes significantly to agricultural output. To ensure food security, the government has since 2011 launched a 5-year investment programme in agriculture. This programme has been extended to the next decade due to satisfying results recorded in its framework, especially in regards to food self-sufficiency.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
An IMF delegation to stay in Lomé from March 27 to April 11 in the framework of ECF approved in May 2017
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will stay in Lomé from March 27 to April 11, 2018, to assess Togo’s actions in the framework of the three-year aid programme, involving an extended credit facility (ECF) approved last May.
The delegation’s objective is to, with local authorities’ support, proceed to the second review of the ECF programme, and also update macroeconomic forecasts for the country.
In effect, the delegation will assess progress made by the Togolese government in regards to reforms it implemented to improve its public finances. It will also evaluate progress made with the national development plan (PND 2018-2022).
Let it be recalled that last October, a first delegation of the IMF was in Lomé and concluded in the framework of its mission that “all criteria of quantitative performance were met and structural reforms are being implemented, gradually”. However, the delegation which was led by Ivohasina Razafimahefa had put an accent on persistent tensions which could affect Togo’s macroeconomic indicators. Since then, the tensions were appeased as an open-dialogue was initiated between the various protagonists.
With this, the current visit could lead to the disbursement of the second tranche of the three-year aid facility (which amounts to $245 million overall). Indeed, a first tranche valued at $34.5 million was disbursed just after the loan had been approved by the Bretton Wood institution.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo to establish a Computer Emergency Response Team along announced national agency to fight cybercrime
Announced in 2017, the project for a national security agency in Togo is about to be concretized. In a letter from the ministry of posts and digital economy to the heads of Togolese universities and major schools, that Togo First was able to obtain, it was indicated that this project should be paired with the creation of a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). The creation of the two entities fall under the government’s strategy to fight cybercrime.
In this framework, the ministry of posts and digital economy, which steers the strategy, is organizing a test to assess the capacities of students to be part of the institutions’ staff.
Students selected will, according to the letter, benefit from top-quality training focused specifically on the CERT needs. In detail, they will take a standard ISO/IEC 27001 course, which would equip them with fundamental notions of IT security systems, the letter reads. In the long run, they could land an open-ended contract based on their performances and the job requirements.
The test is open to all students in their last year of masters’ or bachelor in tech, with a particular accent on IT, telecoms and electrical engineering.
Concerned academic institutions include the Centre Informatique et de Calcul (CI), Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs (ENSI), Université Catholique de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (UCAO) and Institut Africain d’Informatique (IAI).
Togo : Power utility CEET to adopt prepay as electricity payment mode, in line with its plan to connect a large number of users to the national grid this year
CEET, Togo’s power utility, wants to switch from postpaid to prepay for its payment mode. This is part of various measures taken by the firm to connect more people to the national grid in 2018 (it eyes 100,000 connections).
In line with its new decision, the public company plans to promote the use of prepay meters.
According to officials at CEET, this is to tackle the issue of unpaid electricity bills. With prepay meters, customers will also be able to purchase electricity from other providers, not only CEET.
By opting for prepay, the power utility wants to mitigate all susceptible issues that might arise from the reforms it currently implements.