At the end of February 2018, World Bank approved a new programme to help Togo meet standards of the Initiative for Transparency in Extractive Industries (EITI).

In effect, the institution will inject $300,000 (about CFA160 million) in the programme which is steered by Morten Larsen, Mining Specialist of the World Bank, who knows West Africa very well.

The new facility comes after another valued at $15 million allocated to the ministry of mines in 2016. The latter was to support the implementation of a 5-year project for development and mining governance (PDGM in French) that extends to 2020. It would help boost governance and transparency in mining industry and also help better manage issues related to environment and socio-economic development as long as  those are connected to the industry.

PDGM, let’s recall, aims at improving management and monitoring of mine development activities in Togo; these include operating and exploration permits’ provision, mines’ closure and various mining operations carried out across the country.

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After recently taking part in the International Solar Summit (ISA) in India, Togo secured a financing of $40 million from India. This facility will be injected in a project for rural electrification via PV solar kits.

This was disclosed by Thièm Bolidjia, Managing Director of Togo’s agency for rural electrification and renewable energies, who was part of the delegation that followed the President to New Delhi.

According to him, the project was approved by India and will add to CI-ZO project which was launched by the presidency. This will help rapidly achieve the President’s goal to provide electricity to 300,000 households by 2022.

In effect, the new India-funded project targets 350 villages whose residents will get solar kits. It should be operational in the next six to twelve months.

In 2017, Togo exported 246 tons of cashew nuts to US, up 53% compared to 2016, Commodafrica reports quoting an n’kalo newsletter from the nitidæ association (former RONGEAD).

While volumes of cashew nuts it exports to US soared over the period considered, Togo has exported less to Europe. Indeed, it sent 118 tons of cashew to the Old continent in 2017, down 38% compared to the previous year. In regards to ranking, in 2017, Togo was respectively the 12th and 11th cashew nuts provider of US and Europe.

Going further back, in 2016, Togo shipped 190 tons of cashew nuts to the European Union and 161 tons to the United States.

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So far, only 2% of Niger’s exports transit via Lomé’s Port. However, the port’s authorities, in collaboration with business operators from Niger, intend to increase this figure to 5%.

To this end, many measures should be implemented, according to Fogan Adegnon, Managing Director of the Autonomous Port of Lomé.

Amongst these, improving passage across Burkina corridor and opening the Ponio road (Burkina) would significantly reduce distance travelled from Niger to reach the port of Lomé.

Also, passage costs should be reduced, by suppressing freight distribution, opting for door-to-door transportation of containers, without emptying; this would push consignees to lower deposits they demand.

By doing these, Lomé’s port should capture a significant portion of Niger’s exports via the facility, thus strengthening its position as logistic hub for landlocked nations in the region.

Under the aegis of the minister of trade and private sector promotion, Bernadette Essossimna Legzim-Balouki, open houses at the Société d’Exploitation du Guichet Unique pour le Commerce Extérieur au Togo (SEGUCE-TOGO) begin Today and will end on March 15, 2018, at the firm’s headquarters.

The event is scheduled as follows: on March 13, SEGUCE’s top executives will be introduced just after the opening ceremony; March 14 will be reserved to certified customs commissioners, importers and exporters; and on the last day, business owners, students offering logistics and external trade will be under the spotlight.

According to SEGUCE’s executives, this schedule is for reference sake only in order to avoid crowding.

It is however important to note that SEGUCE helps simplify and ration procedures related to the clearance of goods, accelerate their passage and reduce related processes’ costs and delays.

Its long-term objective is to make relations between external trade actors more transparent. The creation of this entity helped Togo boost its performances, in terms of logistics.

Togocel, leading mobile operator in Togo, will launch 4G at the end of April 2018. This was disclosed by the firm’s MD, Affoh Atcha-Dédji, Afreepress reports.

This comes after a similar move by Téolis last month.

Togocel, which detains 70% of mobile market’s share in the country, indicates that launching the technology falls under its strategy aiming to provide broadband of quality and affordability all over the country. It also aligns with the government’s goal to make Togo a digital hub in the coming decades, while ensuring that broadband is available in the whole country.

In this framework, the upcoming arrival of internet service provider GVA (Group Vivendi Africa), subsidiary of Vivendi, which will position itself on fiber optic, is a new milestone in the development of local telecommunication market. The latter, let’s recall, is expected to grow by more than 6% yearly, in the next two years.

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