Launched in 2016 to “bridge inequalities between various Togolese regions regarding infrastructures, thus consolidating progress made by the government in fighting social exclusion”, the Emergency Program for Community Development (PUDC) shows promising results.

Two years after its implementation, this program which obtained financial and technical support from Japan and targets mainly poor populations in rural areas that are poorly impacted by State’s initiatives, has enabled significant achievements in priority sectors such as education, health, social protection, access to energy, drinking water supply in urban and suburban areas, economic empowerment of women, youth and other vulnerable social groups.

To this end, billions of CFA were mobilized to develop basic infrastructures.

406 km of rural roads built or rehabilitated

Since 2016, 406km of rural roads across the nation’s five regions were either built or renovated. This brings new opportunities for benefiting populations.

“With the new road, we can now go to many of the surrounding markets and to Lomé as well. The road allows me to, as you can see, sell my rice output , but also I have no more issues moving harvested grains,” says Cécile Ayoudi, rice processor in Davié, which is in the Tsévié town, 35km from Lomé. She was referring to the rehabilitated Davié-Assomé-Noépé rural road.

Like her, many other farmers and processors said infrastructures built and rehabilitated under the government’s program contributed to their economic and financial inclusion.

Yet, there are still major challenges to overcome. Among these, a project concerning 1,200km of road for which feasibility study will soon be released. With these various initiatives, Togo is taking yet another step forward to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

10,000 solar light poles installed and being installed

In addition to roads, the PUDC provided sustainable power sources to populations of remote (rural and semi-urban) areas. Indeed, a total of 10,000 solar light poles were installed and are still being installed in those areas. Out of these, 7,000 poles are standard poles while 2,000 come with 5 sockets to charge electric gadgets, and the last 1,000, in addition to the 5 sockets have a Wi-Fi hotspot. This project is part of the government’s objective to provide power and quality internet to all Togolese by 2030.

Striding toward quality education  

A lot of attention was given to education during the program’s two years of realization. In line with the objective to boost populations’ access to infrastructures and basic socio-economic equipment, 208 classrooms, 44 public primary schools, 11 junior highschools, 8 highschools, 19 administrative and educational blocks were built  or equipped to improve the quality of education in the country’s five regions, since the program was launched in 2016. In addition, 100 toilets were built in public primary schools.

For Mrs. Didigoua Dimiline, teacher at Amou-blo, a village located at about 35km of Atakpamé, who had lost hope in many non-kept promises, the PUDC was a true buoy. “We had lost hope because of the many non-kept promises. Being secluded was an issue but the PUDC has shown us that we also have the right to quality education and socio-economic infrastructures just like any other town,” she said.

629 wells to be built

Drinking water is still far from being best shared in Togo. To tackle this challenge which is absolutely urgent, the PUDC aims to drill 629 wells across the country’s five regions. According to authorities in charge, related studies are underway. Moreover, rehabilitation works on 54 mini drinking water supply systems should be completed in some months.

Improving living standards of populations, a must

10 basins and lakes were cleaned in two years. The same way, operation of some basins used to collect flood waters should be improved. Also, 12 dump trucks were put at the disposal of populations to improve their living conditions as they were said to previously live in areas reputed to be dumps. That is the case of Hanoukope, an area located in Lomé. It is one of the most dirty and populated areas of the capital.

 Maboli, 70, retired engineer, expressed his joy over the start of extension works regarding the great canal. This should improve lives of Lomé’s residents. “Our area is much populated and is 15 minutes from Lomé’s largest hospital –CHU. I was born and grew up in this area and love it very much. But the truth is, it has always been much polluted and much of dump,” he said.

Access to proper health services : still much to do…

With the PUDC, much has been done in regards to health infrastructures and supply of related equipment. In effect, over the past two years, the program led to the construction of four socio-medical centres and 8 peripheral care units were also built and equipped. 10 cars, 5 ambulances and 10 bikes were provided to health centres. Also, 3 prefectoral hospitals (Kpalimé, Bèkpota, Mango) were rehabilitated.

Yet, there is still much to do in this sector as costs and distance to cover to get quality treatment remain major challenges for some.  

Regardless, efforts made so far to achieve SDGs, in the framework of the PUDC, must be lauded, even if there is still room for improvement.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

To ensure that degrees awarded by private universities are of quality, Togo’s government has decided to make uniform, courses provided by these various schools.

In effect, curricula will be identical allowing all students of the country to pass a single exam monitored by the State.

Indeed, so far, each school had some margin to organize its exams as it pleased, with the exception of the technician certificate (BTS) exam.

“A degree obtained in Togo must be of quality. We must be more serious and rigorous with our training. This is vital for the tertiary education,” said Octave Nicoué Broohm, minister of tertiary education and research.  

In this regard, a task force composed of experts will identify inconsistencies and disparities between every course offered by private universities and develop adequate solutions to these. This task force will then submit a report of its activities six months after their commencement.

Séna Akoda

Lomé is the 29th African city where living is best according to the U.S consulting firm Mercer. This was disclosed in the firm’s 2018 quality living ranking which listed 231 cities worldwide (and where 44 African nations are present).

Globally, Lomé’s capital is 206th ahead of cities like Lagos (212th) whose GDP is about ten times Togo’s. Lomé also beat Abidjan (208th), Addis Ababa (209th), Ouagadougou (214th), Bamako (220th) and Niamey.

However, within the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU), living standards for expatriate workers in Dakar and Cotonou are better than in Lomé.

Austria’s capital, Vienna, is the one towering the ranking, followed by Zurich, worldwide. In Africa,there was no change at the top of the ranking. The first is Port Louis (Mauritius), Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg (all in South Africa).

Mercer’s ranking is based on various criteria including politico-social environment, economic and socio-cultural environments, health standards, level of education, public services and transport, urban infrastructures, leisure, consumption goods, housing and finally, environmental quality.

The quality of living of a country is a major indicator used by multinationals while dispatching some of their staff members.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Ahead of the upcoming presidential youth forum (FPJ) to be held on April 20-21, 2018, Prof. Dodzi Kokoroko, President of the Organization Committee of the FPJ, declared: “We want the President to keep commitments regarding youth on a three to five year basis”. This was last Wednesday, as he was meeting with the press.

The upcoming forum will be different from others previously held in Togo. “It will not be rushed, will be nothing warmed or déjà-vu,” he declared.

Prof. Kokoroko added that developed solutions should be tailored for the Togolese youth and be integrated to public policies.

It should be noted that preparatory workshops organized from March 9 to 22, 2018, by FPJ in all of Togo’s economic regions, recorded 105 recommendations. This is according to Vincent Kavege, an expert working on the project.

Regarding the upcoming forum, about 1500 youth delegates (18-35 years old) are expected to be present.

In February, average interest rates on consumption and housing loans granted by lenders in Togo increased.

Regarding the first category, rates on these loans, after having slumped by 21 basis points to 8.42% in January, rose to 8.86% the following month. Actually, all WAEMU States, apart from Niger, recorded the same trend.

Average interest rate on housing loans in Togo is the highest within the union, after Benin’s. Indeed, data shows that banks in Togo charged 8.71% interest on these types of loans, in February, as against 9.95% in Benin.

Surprisingly, during the same month, bank loans to companies which were known to be the most expensive across the region, with the exception of Benin, the month before, were the cheapest. From 9.1% in January, their average rate fell to 5.76%. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo

The National Employers’ Board (CNP-Togo) has provided on April 4, 2018, a CFA2 million check to Edem Bessanh, who distinguished himself as 2017’s best SME entrepreneur with his business S.E NUTRI-TOGO which sells mushroom-based drinks.

“We want to congratulate the winner and encourage him in his efforts to valorize Togolese skills and local processing. This is to laud Togolese firms’ presence, locally, but also in West Africa, in hope that these will expand their footprint farther away,” said Laurent Coami Tamegno, chairman CNP-Togo.

For the young entrepreneur who received the check, which adds to another provided by FAIEJ-PRADEB, the financing is quite significant and attests of the trust put in him. He thus thanked his customers, partners and Togo’s youth globally.

Togo’s ministry of grassroots development, craftsmanship and youth employment, wants to adopt a new strategy to tap out the potential of this social group.  

According to a credible source, the entity selected to develop this strategy will review all aspects of the actual national youth strategy, using as reference the African Union’s roadmap for the exploitation of demographic dividend.

The new strategy is a tool that is designed to help identify areas that are not or are not  taken care of, enough, by current actions. Particular attention will be given to youths’ needs in regards to training, decent job provision, autonomy and health.

The new strategy, let’s note, has to be submitted with a five-year plan and a performance monitoring and evaluation framework.

Still in order to valorize youth’s potential and better meet expectations related to socioeconomic growth, Togo’s president, Faure Gnassingbé, has announced a presidential forum on youth for this month.