Togo First
Information on land now accessible to all in Togo
Under reforms established by the government to improve business climate in the country, access to land-related information has been democratized for all.
The announcement came from top officials at the State Domains and Cadaster Office (DADC), on Feb. 21, 2018. This was on the first day of the training and exchange session between press actors and the Business Climate Cell.
The new measure, the officials said, should improve transparency in land management and also help reduce land conflicts significantly.
Truly, by having access to information regarding a specific land, potential buyers can quickly check if the seller is the property’s legal owner.
This would avoid conflict, in the event the land has already been sold to another person.
To have free access to land information, interested individuals are to pay CFA2000 which correspond to research fees. However, regarding land maps, related information is free to access.
University of Lomé now 82nd best university in Africa, according to UniRank’s 2018 top 200 African universities index
The University of Lomé was ranked 82nd best university in Africa, in the 2018 Top 200 African Universities of UniRank. This a is significant improvement compared to 2017’s edition where the university was 109th or even to 2015’s where it was not even on the index.
On this rankings which can be accessed at www.4icu.org/top-universities-africa, South African universities dominate the Top 10 grabbing eight spots. These are followed by the University of Nairobi (9th) in Kenya and the American University in Cairo (10th) ,Egypt.
The Criteria used to rank the universities include visibility and enrolment level, presence in search engines, etc. With its performance, the University of Lomé beat famous universities such as the Hassan II University of Casablanca (Morocco), University of Cape Coast (Ghana) and University of Education Winneba (Ghana), among others.
Let it be noted that some universities like the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) and that of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) are not featured on the 2018 Top 200 African Universities Ranking.
Togo: Electronic signature to be used soon at notaries’ offices
Soon, it will be possible to sign documents digitally at a notary’s office in Togo. This was revealed yesterday by the new president of the chamber of notaries of Togo, while he was assuming office.
The new measure is a significant milestone in dematerializing processes and it should save both notaries and their clients a lot of time with paperwork.
While it aims mainly to improve quality of service provided to clients, the initiative should also tackle the issue of low activity resulting from the various incentives recently initiated by the government to improve the country’s business environment. Indeed, the reforms which include tax reliefs, cancellation of registration fee when creating a company and reduction of property transfer fees, are threading on notaries’ toes.
However, with electronic signature, notaries across the country will be able to save their costs.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Corruption Perceptions Index 2017: Togo stagnates, according to Transparency International
On Feb. 21, 2018, German NGO, Transparency International released its yearly report on corruption in public sector for 2017.
According to this year’s edition which ranked 180 countries, up from 176 a year before, Togo is no more corrupted than last year, or the year before that. Indeed, since 2015, the country’s score has been stagnating at 32, against 29 in 2014 and 2013.
Togo loses a place in the global ranking, falling to the 117th position. However in Africa, it remains among the continent’s 25 least corrupted countries, despite falling two places in the regional ranking.
Worldwide, average score was 43 and sub-Saharan Africa is among the planet’s most corrupted regions. The continent’s average score is the same as Togo (32).
According to the report which focuses on linkages between corruption, press freedom and civic society engagement, more than two thirds of countries ranked have a score that is below average (50).
The study also states that each week, a journalist is killed in a highly corrupted country, highlighting that since 2012, most of journalists murdered around the world were in this country.
“Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up,” said Patricia Moreira, Managing Director, Transparency International.
Back to the index, New Zealand and Denmark shared the first place, followed by Finland, Norway and Switzerland.
In the African Union, Botswana is the least corrupted nation. It is followed by Seychelles, Cape Verde, Rwanda and Namibia. In the WAEMU, Senegal, Burkina and Benin are the top three countries.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Teolis SA to start operations on Feb. 22, 2018
As announced earlier on, telecom operator Teolis SA will launch its activities on Feb. 22, 2018.
With the arrival of this new internet service provider, the third in Togo, populations’ access to broadband would very likely improve.
More so considering the upcoming operationalization of a fourth actor, Groupe Vivendi Africa (GVA). This would contribute to a significant decrease in communication costs applied in the country.
All these, let it be noted, fall in line with government’s plan for the sector to provide broadband access to more than 90% of the population and 95% of companies in Togo, by 2022.
In Togo, informal sector contributes 20-30% of GDP – IMF (report)
The Informal sector represents 20-30% of Togo’s gross domestic product (GDP) according to a report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Compared to its neighbors, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and most countries in the sub-Saharan African region, Togo is doing well. A feat which is to be attributed to the various efforts of the government to make private sector the economy’s driver.
In Africa, informal sector contributes about 40% of GDP of low revenue countries and 35% of GDP of intermediate revenue nations. While this figure is lower in Togo, it still remains that the sector captures about 90% of all jobs in private sector.
Indeed, a recent study carried out by the national agency for employment and GIZ backed this evidence. 80% of surveyed population under the study, mainly youth active in the trade sector in various key towns of the country, work in the informal sector.
IMF said reasons behind this phenomenon include tax and social charges, institutions’ quality and the economy’s size. In its study, the Bretton Woods institution found out that the higher the difference between total labor cost in a formal economy and that in informal economy, the greater the temptation for businesses to stay off the radar.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
David Koffi Tsolenyanu takes office as new head of national chamber of notaries of Togo
David Koffi Tsolenyanu took office as the new head of the national chamber of notaries of Togo on Feb. 21, 2018, a statement sent to Togo First indicates.
Appointed last Feb. 16, during an elective general assembly, he will be replacing Daniel Ekoue Dosseh-Adjanon. He will lead the institution in a context where the government engaged many reforms which are yet to be respected by members of this professional body.
The chamber actually comprises 11 notaries including six committee presidents.
The same statement received by Togo First revealed that the 10th edition of the global conference of Togolese notaries (Université du notariat togolais) was postponed to April 24-26, 2018, on the recommendation of the newly composed chamber.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo plans to raise CFA230 billion on WAEMU debt market throughout the rest of 2018
The government of Togo should raise another CFA230 billion on the regional financial market of the WAEMU this year, according to the provisional annual plan for issue by tender of the union’s State members.
In detail, the State plans to raise CFA40 billion in March, another CFA40 billion during Q2, CFA90 billion in Q3 and CFA60 billion in the last quarter.
So far, the government was able to raise CFA40 billion (against CFA50 billion eyed) through three bond issuances with an average coverage rate of 80%, based on data gathered by Togo First. This is over a total of CFA280 billion targeted for the fiscal year.
This amount comprises fungible treasury bills (CFA110 billion) and fungible treasury bonds (CFA170 billion).
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Business Climate Cell meets with media actors in Lomé
Starting today, Togo’s business climate cell (CCA in French) is holding a three-day meeting with various media actors. The conference will take place at the Salle Entente of CASEF in Lomé and will be themed: “Business climate in Togo: concepts, reforms and perspectives”.
In effect, organizers will introduce media actors to the various concepts and methodologies to assess the various indicators of the business climate, clearly inform them about reforms implemented by the government to improve the climate and also about existing measures that are not really known by entrepreneurs.
The meeting will thus insure appropriate communication about new measures adopted to improve business climate in the country so that both populations and assessing institutions will have access to adequate information about reforms implemented.
About 80 representatives of audiovisual media, written and online press will participate in the event.
Let’s recall that the CCA which is headed by Sandra Johnson, was established by the decree no.2017-111/PR of Sept. 29, 2017. Its role is to coordinate ministries’ efforts to insure an effective government action, but also monitor reforms’ implementation.
After the ongoing meeting, the institution and media actors will develop an effective sensitization plan regarding the various reforms.
Togo’s anti-drug office ceased an important volume of illegal detergents and fake IDs
Togo’s anti-drug and money laundering central office (OCRTIDB) has recently, during its field operations, ceased an important volume of OMO detergents as well as fake IDs which it showed the media on Feb.20, 2018.
In detail, 11.062 tons of boxed detergents which were to be sold at Lomé’s main market were ceased. According to officials from OCRTDB, a seller based in Lomé is responsible for introducing these products of questionable quality, which could negatively affect both people and clothes. “Investigation is still underway to find the culprit, or network behind this illegal trade”, the officials said while calling populations to caution.
Concerning fake IDs found, there are fake passports and national IDs from many countries.