• Togo will receive part of a $5.3 million AfDB grant alongside Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Madagascar.
• The program aims to improve PPP regulation, local private sector participation, and project management.
• Funds come from AfDB’s Transition Support Facility.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide Togo with support under a $5.3 million grant shared with Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Madagascar. The grant, worth nearly CFA3 billion, comes through the AfDB’s Transition Support Facility. It targets the strengthening of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to attract more private investment.

The project will focus on improving the regulatory and institutional framework for PPPs, boosting local private sector participation, and creating an efficient project management unit.

Solomon Quaynor, AfDB Vice President, said the program “aligns with the three pillars of the PPP strategic framework and will contribute to its full operationalization.”

For Togo, the project will deliver technical and institutional support. It offers a fresh opportunity to consolidate the country’s already reform-oriented legal and operational framework, especially in infrastructure, energy, and public services.

This article was initially published in French by Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum

In Togo, where many rural communities still lack access to banking, Ecobank and Société des Postes du Togo (La Poste) have joined forces to expand financial inclusion.

The two institutions unveiled their partnership on August 7, in Lomé. They launched two products: the Eco+ prepaid card and the Point Xpress money transfer service. La Poste developed the Eco+ card with Ecobank’s technical support, while Point Xpress now operates in postal branches nationwide.

The Eco+ prepaid card, powered by Visa, lets anyone—banked or unbanked—withdraw cash, pay bills, and shop online or in stores. Customers can get the card at any La Poste branch.

Point Xpress transforms post office counters into Ecobank transaction points, making it easier for people to send and receive money anywhere in the country. Ecobank gains from La Poste’s vast branch network, while La Poste benefits from Ecobank’s banking technology.

“What we are launching today is not just a card or a service. It’s a new way of thinking about banking,” said Ecobank Togo’s Personal Banking Director, representing the subsidiary’s Managing Director. “We are bringing the bank closer to the communities, even the most remote.”

With 80 offices across Togo, La Poste acts as a bridge between modern banking and local communities. For Awata Dissima, Product Manager at La Poste, the partnership reflects “a shared vision between two solid institutions: a pan-African bank focused on the modernisation of finance, and a public company rooted in the territories.”

This alliance could accelerate Togo’s progress in financial inclusion, especially in regions underserved by traditional banks. Between 2014 and 2021, Togo achieved the fastest growth in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), raising its inclusion rate from 57.7% to 85.72%.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo’s National Health Insurance Institute (INAM) has extended Universal Health Insurance (UHI) to widows, widowers, orphans and direct ascendants of civil and military pensioners under the Togo Retirement Fund (CRT).

The move, announced in an August 5 press release, follows a similar expansion last month for National Social Security Fund (CNSS) beneficiaries.

The extension covers widows and widowers receiving survivors’ pensions, orphans receiving survivors’ pensions, and direct ascendants such as parents. It also includes additional beneficiaries declared by active insured persons, such as dependent children, self-employed spouses and dependent relatives.

INAM said the goal is to provide adequate health coverage to people often in vulnerable situations. The initiative will grant eligible individuals an AMU card, ensuring access to essential healthcare services.

The institution stressed that survivors’ pension beneficiaries, often left economically weakened after the death of a family member, and dependants of active insured persons, need reliable health protection.

Newly eligible categories are invited to contact INAM to complete registration procedures.

Launched in January 2024 by INAM and CNSS, the AMU project seeks to guarantee healthcare access to the entire Togolese population, regardless of their occupation.

This article was initially published in French by Esaïe Edoh

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum

• 4th International Festival “La Marmite” runs 6–10 August in Lomé, focusing on women’s role in agriculture and food.
• Around 500,000 visitors expected; spotlight on local rice and traditional drink “Sodabi.”
• Event aims to make Lomé a capital of African gastronomy.

Togo opened the fourth edition of its international culinary festival “La Marmite” (FESMA) on August 6 in Lomé, promoting Togolese and African gastronomy.

Launched in 2022, the week-long event gathers restaurateurs, farmers, processors and food industry players to showcase the country’s culinary wealth and the full “farm-to-fork” value chain. The 2025 edition focuses on “Women, Agriculture and Food,” highlighting the crucial yet often overlooked role of women in agriculture, local cuisine and domestic economies in Africa, particularly in Togo.

“The FESMA approach is to create an original and unifying cultural event of reference in Togo, registered on the international agenda, and to make Lomé the capital of African gastronomy,” said festival commissioner Jean-Paul Agboh-Ahouélété. He noted the involvement of the Union of Chefs and Cooks of Togo (UCCT) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI-Togo) in organising this edition.

FESMA 2025 will showcase signature dishes from Togo’s five economic regions. Two products will take centre stage: local rice, now a strategic priority, and “Sodabi,” a once-stigmatised traditional drink that is increasingly popular.

Organisers expect about 500,000 visitors by the festival’s close on August 10.

This article was initially published in French by Octave A. Bruce

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum

Lomé will host the third edition of the Biashara Africa Forum from October 20 to 22, 2025, bringing together business leaders and policy-makers to boost trade and investment across Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.

Togo confirmed its readiness to host the event during a meeting held on August 6 between Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Togolese Council, and Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, who was in Lomé on a working visit.

“The purpose of our visit today is to assess the Togolese government's offer to host the third edition of Biashara Africa,” said Mene. “We are grateful that Togo has agreed to host this major event,” he added, praising Lomé’s strong commitment to Africa’s economic integration.

Save the Date!
Biashara Afrika 2025
20–22 October | Lomé, Togo
The AfCFTA’s premier platform for public-private dialogue returns — connecting businesses, policymakers, and innovators to shape Africa’s trade future.#BA2025 | #CreatingOneAfricanMarket pic.twitter.com/sfjxeQ62Va

— AfCFTA Secretariat Official (@AfCFTA) May 22, 2025

The Biashara Africa Forum aims to provide a high-level platform where public officials and private sector actors can discuss trade implementation strategies and identify investment opportunities under the AfCFTA.

This year’s edition will focus on removing barriers to market access, sharing commercial data, and providing regulatory guidance to businesses. Organizers say these tools will help African companies make better decisions when entering or expanding into new markets within the continent.

Le Président du Conseil, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé a accordé ce mercredi 06 août 2025 une audience à Monsieur Wamkele Mene, Secrétaire général de la Zone de libre-échange continentale africaine (ZLECAF) en visite de travail à Lomé.https://t.co/4P3JRjXb5G pic.twitter.com/O7dUj50EMl

— Présidence du Conseil du Togo (@presidencecstg) August 6, 2025

On the sidelines of the forum announcement, Wamkele Mene and President Gnassingbé reviewed the progress of AfCFTA implementation and Togo’s contributions to the integration effort.

“I congratulated the president on Togo’s involvement in this process. The country was among the first to implement the AfCFTA. It has strategic infrastructures, such as an efficient deep-water port, and is positioning itself as a logistics and transport hub for West and Central Africa,” Mene said.

The AfCFTA, a flagship African Union initiative under Agenda 2063, seeks to create a single market for goods and services by reducing trade barriers among member states. The agreement is designed to boost intra-African trade, attract investments, and enhance Africa’s global competitiveness.

Esaie Edoh

Togo officially opened the sixth edition of the Made in Togo fair this week at the Lomé Exhibition and Fair Center (CETEF-Togo 2000). Minister of Commerce Rose Kayi Mivedor-Sambiani launched the event on August 1, 2025.

Over 200 local producers—including artisans, agripreneurs, manufacturers, and startups—are showcasing their products. Organizers expect the fair to attract nearly 40,000 visitors.

This year’s theme, “Let’s consume Togolese for a strong and sustainable economy,” reflects the government’s push to promote national production and reduce import dependency. The fair positions itself as a leading national initiative for building resilient local value chains.

Minister Mivedor-Sambiani stressed that supporting Togolese products goes beyond patriotic sentiment. “Consuming local is more than a symbolic choice,” she said. It is a structuring act for the economy, generating jobs, resilience, and industrial sovereignty.

Beyond the exhibition, the fair offers a space for dialogue and collaboration between producers, institutional partners, and buyers. It helps foster commercial opportunities and link entrepreneurs with new markets.

The fair also plays a strategic role in showcasing Togo’s rapidly evolving economic fabric—where more businesses are formalizing and new sectors are emerging.

Togo has secured CFA800 million in fresh support from Japan under the Kennedy Round 2025 (KR 2025) food aid project. Japan delivers this funding as part of its non-reimbursable financial cooperation, allowing Togo to purchase rice. The rice will be sold at subsidized prices to vulnerable groups.

The Kennedy Round project does more than provide food aid. It acts as an economic tool by recycling revenue from rice sales into a counterpart fund. This fund finances structural projects, especially in agriculture and education. This strategy strengthens nutrition security and promotes long-term socio-economic growth.

Ambassador Junji Gomakubo highlighted Japan’s commitment to Togo by reminding, “Japan supports Togo’s efforts to improve the food situation, particularly through the development of ZAAP (Planned Agricultural Development Zones).”

Togo’s Minister of Agriculture, Antoine Lekpa Gbegbeni, called the partnership “crucial” amid rising food price volatility. He emphasized, “The sale of KR rice, beyond its contribution to strengthening food and nutritional security, helps stabilize market prices and creates counterpart funds that serve to implement development projects for the welfare of our populations.”

This latest donation supplements previous shipments, including 2,275 tonnes of rice delivered in February 2025 under KR 2023. Another shipment is planned by the end of 2025 as part of KR 2024. Togo has already used counterpart funds effectively, purchasing 130 tractors to mechanize ZAAP sites.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Togo (CCI-Togo) has positioned itself to play a central role in advancing the Kara agropole initiative, a flagship agro-industrial project aimed at transforming the country’s agricultural sector.

On August 4, chamber officials met with the project’s management team in Kara to review progress and identify private-sector entry points. The Kara agropole, launched in 2022, prioritizes key value chains — including maize, rice, soybeans, poultry, cashew, and sesame — and is part of a broader national strategy to develop agricultural growth corridors with industrial capabilities.

During the meeting, project leaders outlined major milestones, expected economic impacts, and financial and technical support mechanisms available to private investors. Delegates also toured active construction sites to assess infrastructure development firsthand.

“As business leaders, it is our duty to spread the word to both national and international investors,” said José Syménouh, president of CCI-Togo. “We must explain the agropole model and highlight the investment potential it offers.”

The Kara agropole aims to boost local food processing, lift farmer incomes, reduce poverty, and cut the country's reliance on imported staples — all while generating long-term employment in northern Togo.

This article was initially published in French by Esaie Edoh

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum