Togo First
Economic Freedom: Togo improves its openness to foreign investment and access to credit (The Heritage Foundation)
In its latest 2018 rankings on global economic freedom, Heritage Foundation ranked Togo at the 168th position worldwide and 41st in sub-Saharan Africa, with a score of 47.8/100.
While the country’s overall score slumps 5.4 points, due to issues related to fiscal health and judicial effectiveness, it recorded significant improvements in regards to investment freedom (65/100) and monetary freedom (78.5/100).
“Government openness to foreign investment is above average,” states the think tank adding that “access to credit was also improved”.
The report also highlights that government’s efforts to modernize sectors of banking, energy, transports and infrastructures have helped the country record steady growth over the past five years. This trend should be sustained.
According to Heritage Foundation, tax reliefs, reforms to simplify tax payment and those related to cross-border trade, are also major factors that will support Togo’s economy.
However, some challenges in business environment and public administration keep undermining the economy’s competitiveness thereby driving a significant part of the economic activity into the informal sector, the American foundation said.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Nathalie Kpanté : “If I had the power to change things, I would start with Togo’s educational system… Entrepreneurship is taught since childhood”
Nathalie Kpanté, 30, entrepreneur and production head at Choco-Togo is one of many young Africans trying to change the face of the continent. After training shortly in Italy, the young woman ventured into chocolate production and is now with Choco-Togo, which has become a source of pride for Togo. She has become one of the major actors of local agribusiness. Given her status, we at Togo First decided to ask her a few questions to which she gladly responded.
Togo First: How did you come up with the “made in Togo” chocolate idea?
Nathalie Kpanté : In 2013, we took part in a training workshop in Italy, on traditional processing of cocoa into chocolate, responsible tourism, fair trade and e-commerce. When we returned, we noticed that no processing had been done since the colonial era, and that almost all our cocoa farmers knew nothing about chocolate. We then started researching and adapting processing methods we learnt during the workshop.
T.F : Don’t you think it is too risky to venture into chocolate production knowing that the population, culturally, is not an effective consumer of this product?
Nathalie Kpanté : Indeed, the risk is very high but taking risks is a quality when you are an entrepreneur.
Many people do not know about chocolate’s qualities. All chocolate products in our market are full of chemicals. Therefore, we inform people about chocolate’s qualities and then offer them products of quality.
By venturing into chocolate production, we were trying to achieve two essential goals : first, we wanted to promote agricultural entrepreneurship and self-employment of youths to reduce unemployment rate which is quite elevated in Togo. The second objective was the empowerment of young girls and women in rural areas.
In Togo, cocoa farming is practiced by families therefore all members of a family work but it is men that own the lands and collect revenues generated by the yield. In this context, women totally depend on their husbands. It is to change this that we select women from rural areas and teach them how cocoa processing is done. Currently, we are training about fifty women and dropout girls from these areas.
T.F : Could you tell us a little about the figures of Chocotogo?
Nathalie Kpanté : Since we started our activities, our turnover was about CFA16 million.
T.F : … What of your profits?
We are still installing our factory so every profit we make is used to buy equipment.
T.F : Did you benefit from any financial support?
We won some contests where monies were provided and also funding from the Agriculture Support Programme –PASA- but we have formal financial support.
T.F : Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur when most young graduates seek jobs in a hibernating market ?
I grew up around entrepreneurs. My parents, though civil servants, have always been entrepreneurs, same for my brothers and sisters. Since my childhood I was introduced to various businesses and I learnt there was no such thing as a “dirty job”. Some have to create employment for others to be employed. Why couldn’t this person be me?
T.F : What are your growth targets in the next 10 years?
In regards to growth, we want to expand our production unit, sell its products regionally and internationally, open a training center for all African youths and improve women, girls and kids’ conditions in cocoa farming areas.
T.F : If you had the power to change things today, what would your priorities be?
If I had the power to change things, I would start with Togo’s educational system. We are conditioned as job seekers. Entrepreneurship is taught since childhood. If we want to change things, we must change what we teach kids who are the “nation’s future” as it is often said.
TF : Looking at the multiple awards you got, both in the country, the continent and outside the continent, what advice could you give to your young brothers and sisters who are hesitating to become entrepreneurs ?
Nathalie Kpanté : Let every youth focus on improving their personality and skills. If one knows who he or she is, what we are capable of and are passionate about, then surely he or she can create wealth and have more impact in their society.
Interview with Fiacre Kakpo and Séna Akoda
Togo: European Union funds water tower construction at Djagblé, in the northern suburb of Lomé
In the northern suburb of Lomé, at Djablé to be precise, the construction of a new water tower is being finished. The project is part of the Water and Sanitization Programme for the rapid achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (PEA-OMD). The European Union backed the latter with a €20 million funding.
The programme aims at establishing a sustainable environment by boosting populations’ access to drinking water. It will also lead to the development of a strategic intervention framework for sanitization.
Besides, EU, via PEA-OMD, plans to finance 24 drinking water supply systems which will directly benefit some 250,000 individuals across about 30 semi-urban communities, in the maritime region.
Moreover, still under the programme, the European Union will organize workshops to boost skills of agents of the ministry of water, sanitization and rural hydraulics, in the maritime region.
Lomé to host “Gbedegbevo” fair dedicated to old patterns fabrics, starting from March 10, 2018
In Togo, the “Gbedegbevo” fair for the valorization of old patterns fabrics will open on March 10, in Lomé. According to Xinhua which disclosed the news, quoting an official source, this will be the event’s first edition.
The fair, organized by the aesthetics firm Nad Beauty, aims to “valorize and revisit the Gbedegbevo fabrics which means old patterns fabrics in Togo’s local dialect, as their worth is fading”. Most importantly, the event “aims at valorizing works of Nana Benz, the country’s biggest fabrics seller ever”.
Beside the fair, a big party, a fashion show which will be attended by major designers, will be organized.
Those behind the event also plan to put in place an exchange platform where names given to various fabrics will be explained. This will occur during the same event.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo among four African nations to have improved their power infrastructures most over the past decade (WEF)
Over the past decade, Togo has gone up nine ranks in the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Accenture Strategy.
In Africa, the West African nation comes after Morocco (+14), Namibia (+13) and South Africa. In West Africa, it recorded the best performance in regards to the ranking, followed by Ghana which moved six spots up. In the WAEMU, Togo is the only country to have improved its ranking on the index in the past ten years.
While Senegal stagnates, Benin fell five ranks. Côte d’Ivoire also slumped, by an astounding 28 ranks.
Togo’s performance is mainly attributable to the many projects launched by the government with the support of its technical and financial partners. These include rehabilitation and improvement of power production and distribution facilities. Another factor explaining the performance is the government’s efforts to make supply of existing industries, a priority and driver of economic growth.
Let it be noted that the report states that Togo’s electrification rate remains low (31.46%). However, it positions the country among the 20 most covered nations, in terms of electricity, in Africa.
Togo eyes an electrification rate of 50% by 2020, and 90% in 2030.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo: Christophe Streefkerk becomes managing director, by interim, of Saham Insurance
Christophe Streefkerk is the new Managing Director (interim) of Saham Insurance Togo. The newly appointed executive was up till now the head inspector of the Morocco-based group’s African subsidiaries.
He assumes the position following the dismissal of Magloire Dochamou, subsequent to an investigation within the Togolese branch of Saham. Details regarding the investigation were not provided.
Between October 2007 and September 2011, Christophe Streefkerk headed in Burkina Faso the insurance firm IARD, a subsidiary of Colina group which happens to be responsible for the establishment of Saham Insurance Togo.
Let’s recall that according to Atlas Magazine, Saham Insurance Togo is the country’s second largest non-life insurer with an estimated turnover of CFA7.17 billion and a 25.19% market share, in 2015.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Nana Akufo-Addo in Lomé to facilitate inter-Togolese political dialogue
Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has arrived in Lomé this Monday. There, he will act as facilitator in the framework of the inter-Togolese dialogue to end the political crisis currently recorded in Togo.
The dialogue will last ten days and political actors will try to reach a peaceful solution to this crisis, which began more than six months ago.
The meeting is the concretization of a preliminary agreement signed by the opposition and the leading parties. Atcholi Aklesso, executive secretary of the leading party (Union pour la République) and Eric Dupuy, head of communication of Alliance Nationale pour le Changement (ANC), main opposition party, signed the agreement.
Among various topics that will be discussed during the dialogue are measures for appeasement and trust, the inclusive aspect of the meeting, constitutional reforms, electoral reforms, humanitarian situation and rule of law, or implementation and monitoring mechanism.
In Togo, 60% of large companies hide their profits to avoid paying taxes
In Togo, collection of tax and custom revenues poses a real challenge to authorities. Meanwhile, the IMF said it is vital for the country to remedy this and improve tax collection.
A tax commissioner in a press briefing last Thursday said 60% of big companies declare losses rather than profits, to avoid paying corporate tax. This causes substantial losses for the State whose deficit already widened in 2012-2016. The latter is due to the many investments made to support the economy.
To tackle tax evasion and other challenges crippling tax collection in the country, the general tax code was amended under the 2018 finance law. In fact, reforms initiated by the government in this regard are among others related to corporate tax and minimum tax rate, which is paid by those exempted from corporate tax if the reference year ends with negative results or when minimum tax rate exceeds corporate tax.
In details, minimum tax rate now equals 1% of a firm’s turnover. In the past however, it was CFA500,000 for firms whose corporate tax was below that sum.
With this, Togo respects standards set by OECD in terms of tax transparency.
In 2017, tax revenues in Togo represented more than 22% of its GDP.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
President Gnassingbé commissions new pharmaceutical plant
On Feb. 16, 2018, Togo’s President inaugurated a pharmaceutical factory where intravenous fluids will be produced.
The DO PHARMA plant, as it is named, is the first of its kind in French-Speaking West Africa. It is situated at Aveta, in Lomé.
According to Frédéric Dovi Akué, Managing Director of the firm, the decision to set up this facility in the country was due to the fact that “the region highly depends on imports for drugs”. “A situation that does not favor economies”, he indicated.
Another issue is delays in supply. To tackle these, “it is crucial that we produce quality drugs locally”, M. Akué said.
The new pharmaceutical factory has a production capacity of 3,000 bottles per hour. It will facilitate the populations’ access to quality and affordable drugs.
Togo: After nickel, TFC is now interested in phosphate
Togo’s phosphate sector welcomes a new actor, in line with the government’s efforts to boost the sector’s performance. The firm, according to Africa Intelligence’s confidential newsletter which revealed the information, is the local firm TFC.
According to the news website which provides confidential news on developments that impact the African economy, TFC has recently secured three exploration licenses for phosphate in Kara, northern Togo. The firm, let’s recall, had acquired last August other three exploration permits, namely the Haïto I, Haïto II and Kpatégan permits for nickel, cobalt, copper, chromite, platinum and gold.
Still in order to boost the phosphate sector, Togo’s minister of mining and energy, Dèdèriwè Abli-Bidamon, would meet with senior executives of Israeli group Elenilto, in Lomé or Europe, to review the Kpémé phosphate carbonate project which is located 30km from the Lomé port.
In September 2015, we may recall, Elenilto and its partner Wengfu won the international call to tenders for the Kpémé deposit, which is one the largest in all of Africa. In this framework, the firms were to produce every year, five million tons of phosphate fertilizers and phosphoric acid.
In Togo, phosphate remains the main driver of the mining industry. The country, with its large deposits, is the world’s fourth biggest producer of the ore.
Fiacre E. Kakpo