Togo First
Togo: Electronic signature will boost various sectors of the economy
Togo’s economy will surely change after the entry into effect, the law on electronic signature, which was voted in June 2017. Indeed, the technology would revolutionize many sectors such as trade, telecommunication and most importantly the nation’s administration services.
Government’s decision to opt for the technology falls in line with its strategy to make the country more attractive and dynamic by digitalizing and improving public services.
The application of the bill, which is much anticipated should enable the Centre for Companies Formalities (CFE) to start digitalizing business creation, said Sandra Johnson, coordinator of the Business Climate Cell, while the Prime Minister was visiting this centre at the end of January.
This bill is also much anticipated by notaries as they plan to dematerialize most deeds and processes.
It will also help facilitate exchange of documents and information within public administrations, thus saving time and avoiding delays in processing. A move that would have a positive incidence on trade in the country.
However, many challenges are associated with digital signature and authorities are to determine how these can be tackled.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo and Benin now control their airspace
On this day, March 1, 2018, Benin and Togo took full control of their airspace. Switch to radar coverage took place at the airport of Lomé which will be the centre of operations.
According to the Togolese minister of Transport, Ninsao Gnonfam, “from now on, Togo and Benin, through efforts of their men and women, are able to control their air space”.
The move to radar vectoring comes as the space was being monitored by the Agency for Air Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), since 2015. This will thus allow the agency to boost air safety in this air space which has been a true puzzle for air traffic controllers for years.
From Lomé, air controllers will now be able to “provide specific courses and exact speeds to insure radar separation”, explained ASECNA’s head, cited by Newsaero.
Benin will control between 0 and 8° altitude while the upper portion will be monitored by Togo.
Royal Air Maroc was the first airline to fly under the new system.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Banque de France lauds performances of Togo’s banking sector
Spurred by a 30.8% increase in operating income, Togo’s banking sector has recorded CFA63.4 billion of net positive results in 2016, after CFA46.7 billion of losses in 2015. This was revealed by Banque de France.
The positive performance was reflected on most of the sector’s indicators. For example, operating ratio, which compares operating expenses to net banking income, has improved from 74.8% to 72.6%.
The improvement also affected all assets of banks in the country.
Indeed, balance sheet total of all banks rose by 27.4%, against 14.6% in 2015. The consolidation of banking activity was sustained by a 16% surge in granted loans which stood at CFA1,176.5 billion.
Hence, net loans provided reached 36.8% of gross domestic product (GDP). This places Togo, in this regard, as number one across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), ahead of Senegal (33.1%) knowing that average in the region for this figure is 28%.
All these would not have been possible without the various measures implemented by banks over the past few years to spur financial inclusion.
In effect, the number of ATMs and bank agencies increased. Togo, in fact, has the best ATM density in the union, knowingly 21,000 people per ATM (against an average of 42,000 people per ATM still across the union).
Moreover, customers’ trust was consolidated as volume of long-term deposits soared by 15.6% over the period reviewed. These deposits make 59.5% of total deposits in Togo (against an average of 46.5% within the WAEMU).
France’s apex bank believes this is due to the appealing interests proposed by lenders on these deposits.
At the end of 2016, 17.6% of Togo’s adult population had a bank account, the highest rate in the WAEMU. This, according to Banque de France, is due to the dynamism of microfinance industry in the country. However, the Central Bank of France is concerned over the latter’s heterogeneity.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo ranked 27th over 54 in African Emergence Index
In a recent report entitled African Emergence Index, Togo was ranked 27th out of the continent’s 54 countries. The rankings which was put in place by African experts was reported by Ecofin Agency.
Togo scored 45.76/100 and was listed under the “potential” category. The latter regroups economies with significant resources and capacities but which are not yet able to tap into those to achieve emergence.
The nation with its score comes ahead more stable economies such as Nigeria (a score of 39.5 and listed in the “potential” category) and Côte d’Ivoire (same category and a score of 42.56).
However, in West Africa, it is behind Cape Verde (57.73 points and 5th rank) and Ghana (55.45pt, 7th rank). These two are labelled emerging economies which means they are “engaged in a sustainable transformation process, this is in stable institutional, inclusive and socio-political context that can insure this sustainability”.
Next are Senegal with 51.49 points and Benin with 47.82 points which have been placed under the Threshold category. Under the latter are “countries which are at the frontier towards emergence”.
Surprisingly, a country like Angola is listed under the “Others” category which regroups nations whose “performances do not yet allow them to be, at least not for now, put in the emerging category”, the press agency states.
In the top 5 of this index are Mauritius (68.04pt), South Africa (62.74), Seychelles (61.31), Botswana (60.31) and Cape Verde.
The report ranks nations based on 23 criteria also falling under four main points (political and economic environments; human development and social environment).
Union Togolaise de Banque gives BBOXX $4 million to provide Togolese populations solar power
In Togo, government’s initiative to provide power to more than two million people by 2022 just reached a major milestone as Union Togolaise de Banque (UTB) signed a deal with BBOXX, UK-based firm specialized in renewable energies, to provide it $4 million (CFA2.15 billion).
In effect, local bank UTB will deliver capital in Togolese currency (CFA) to BBOXX which will provide access to energy to communities across Togo. Commenting on the deal, Zakari Darou-Salim, general manager UTB, said: “This operation demonstrates Union Togolaise de Banque’s commitment towards the most disadvantaged populations who currently do not have access to electricity in Togo”. For his part, Mansoor Hamayun, CEO of BBOXX, declared: “The deal with Union Togolaise de Banque will also make financial matters much more straightforward for us and will help drive our expansion across Togo”.
According to African Review, this deal is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa as it involves delivering capital in local currency to carry out a government’s project that aims to improve living standards of local populace. However, one of the key factors making this deal a major one is the fact that Africa Guarantee Fund, which assists financial institutions in increasing their funding to African SMEs, provided a 50% pro rata credit enhancement.
BBOXX, it should be recalled, is a major place in the CIZO project. The firm won in 2017, a contract to work with Togolese government under which it will deploy 300,000 domestic solar kits across the country, over the next five years BBOXX plans to create more than 1000 direct jobs in Togo by 2022.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo about to put in place a national agency for tourism development
During ministers’ council held on 27 February 2018, the government reasserted its intention to make tourism one of the drivers of the economy, thus making Togo a leading hub of this sector, in the region.
In this regard, two draft bills and three decrees were adopted during the council, among others. Also, the minister of industry and tourism, Ihou Attigbé spoke about a project concerning the creation of the national agency for tourism’s development (ANDT).
“The latter will be in charge of steering and implementing the various projects of the ministry, in order to better position the country in the region and worldwide, leveraging on its assets to make it one of the top touristic destinations in West Africa and boost its indicators on global tourism indexes”, the minister said.
With ANDT, the government hopes to attract more than 500,000 tourists before 2020, creating thousands of jobs and boosting hospitality revenues. Back in 2016, let’s note these revenues were at CFA36 billion.
Togo gets an agency to promote creation and development of agropoles
By decree, Togo’s government just created the agency for the promotion and development of agropoles (APRODAT in French) during a council of ministers yesterday. This falls in line with the government’s objectives to boost agricultural sector by focusing on processing.
According to the statement by the ministers’ council, the new entity will improve private investments in agricultural firms, agribusiness and family farming, while giving priority to processing before exportation.
The move should also align with the government’s plan to achieve inclusive growth in the coming years, by creating sustainable jobs in agro-hubs and agricultural parks.
Moreover, to insure an effective management, the decree defines general framework for creation, development and management of agropoles as well as administration modalities for companies desiring to establish themselves in the sector.
“For a decade, agricultural programmes developed by government have helped Togo progress significantly. For example, outputs rose with surpluses often recorded, prices of agricultural commodities are stable while malnutrition and poverty are being reduced in rural areas,” said the statement.
In sight of this advancements, a total of CFA1,250 billion ($2.2 billion) private-public investments is expected in the agricultural sector over the next 10 years. This is in the framework of the PNIASSAN which is a scheme that aims to boost agricultural output in the country.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Special court dedicated to minor conflicts now operational
The launching ceremony for the new commercial chamber solely dedicated to solving conflicts involving small receivables (ranging from zero to 1 million CFA) took place on Feb. 27, 2018. This chamber was established at the end of 2017 by order of the chairman of Lomé’s tribunal.
The goal of this chamber is to speed up processing of affairs related to small receivables. “We wish for these cases (those involving sums ranging between 0 and CFA1,000,000) not to be delayed anymore due to more complex ones,” said the Tribunal’s chairman.
“We also thought it would be good to separate cases involving minor sums from those involving big sums. This would give more time to the three ordinary commercial chambers and their head judges to focus on more complex cases…”, he added.
The new chamber would in the long run reassure investors regarding legal security in business, and would subsequently attract them.
What is most interesting with this new institution is how easy it is to appeal to it. Indeed, with or without request, any complainant can reach out to the court.
The latter, let’s recall, is run by two judges and holds its audiences on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at the Lomé court.
Togo to issue bonds on WAEMU market, for the fourth time this year
Next Friday, Togo will go to the WAEMU’s financial market seeking CFA20 billion. In this framework, the country plans to issue fungible treasury bonds with a nominal value of CFA10,000 and a rate of 6.25%. The bonds will mature on Jan. 25, 2021.
This is the fourth time this year that the State goes to this market. Indeed after the first issuance which recorded a moderate subscription, the country proceeded to two bond-issuance operations which were highly subscribed (107% and 95% respectively).
The latter indicates a boost in investor trust, likely spurred by positive outlooks released by international institutions for the Togolese economy, this year. There was also the recent initiation of a political dialogue on Feb. 15, to tackle the crisis between major political parties in the country.
Togo records a rise in number of LLCs created on year-to-year basis, spurred by reforms
Data from the Centre for Companies formalities (CFE) shows that more than 361 LLCs were created in the first two months of this year. This is against 296 in Jan-Feb 2017.
In details, 224 LLCs were created in January 2018, against 198 the same month the year before. As for February, 137 were created in the first weeks of the month (against 98 during the whole month of February in 2017).
This rise is attributed to the many reforms implemented by the government to ease companies’ creation, a major one being the liberalization of minimum capital for LLCs. They also aim to make private sectors the economic growth driver, through the formalization of LLCs for example.
In regards to the latter, more than 1547 companies were formalized in the first two months of this year, against 1504 in January and February 2017. This a relatively weak increase (2%) which should improve before the month’s ending.
Fiacre E. Kakpo