Togo First
Togo: Government to spend about CFA1.5bn to electrify 62 rural communities with solar power this year
Togo’s government intends to spend about a billion and half CFA in 2018 to boost access to off-grid energy in 62 rural communities. The preferred power source is photovoltaic.
This was revealed in the detailed budget released by the ministry of economy and finance last Tuesday.
The project covers all of the country’s five regions and is the first of three stages falling under the Solar Energy Valorization Programme (PROVES) which is valued at CFA80 billion.
By the end of 2018, the project which is steered by the ministry of energy and mines should provide electricity to more than 12,000 rural households.
The project is backed by the West African Development Bank and WAEMU’s Energy Development Fund (EDF) which will respectively provide CFA6 billion and CFA14.2 billion. EDF, let’s note, expects clean energy to reach an 82% coverage within the union by 2030.
The rural electrification project based on solar PV is part of the government’s strategy to boost electrification rate to 90% by 2030.
Fiacre E. kakpo
Off-grid power: Two Togolese projects selected by French ministry for ecologic and inclusive transition
The French ministry of ecologic and inclusive transition and the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) has selected only 9 out of 92 projects submitted in response to its call to tender for “innovative alternatives for off-grid power access”. This was revealed last March 15, by Nicolas Hulot, France’s State minister, and also minister of ecologic and inclusive transition.
Among selected projected, two were Togolese. The first, the PEREM project is for the construction of solar kiosks that meet users’ consumption needs. Under this project, the kiosk owner will first lease it then purchase it. Additionally, an app can be used to handle to manage the kiosk’s financial operations.
The second project, the Improved Solar-based Irrigation Solution (SISAM), aims at facilitating the emergence of sustainable and accessible irrigation means for small gardens, in Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo.
Overall, all nine projected selected will be financed with a total budget of €5.8 million, out of which €1.8 million will be provided by ADEME.
Togo, world’s 7th largest shea producer, wants to host 12th annual conference on shea
Togo has joined the Global Shea Alliance on the sidelines of the 11th annual conference on shea sector recently held in Abuja, Nigeria. Moreover, the country wants to host the next edition of the event.
According to news website Africa Full Success, Elisabeth Pali-Tchalla, President of Shea sector led the Togolese delegation to this meeting and said this during talks with her peers from other nations.
Joining the Global Shea Alliance, and due to its rank (7th) in the global shea production sector, could get Togo support from various lenders to boost its shea sector. These lenders include among others USAID, International Finance Corporation (IFC) or UN Women.
Togo: It is now effective, businesses can be created online via CFE's website
Business creation in Togo has yet reached another milestone. Indeed, after government reduced various procedures and delay related to the process, it is now possible to create a business online.
Announced since January this year, digitalization of the process effectively took shape in February. This reform falls under a set of measures aiming to improve business climate in Togo and increase Togo’s ranking in the Doing Business report.
In effect, required documentation will be submitted on the website of the centre for business formalities, CFE. The institution’s single desk will be the only accredited structure to process the documents. According to authorities, this will still be done in 24-hours and could improve further.
Moreover, CFE is determined to further shorten delay to obtain creation card, which is currently 24-hours.
All these measures aim at boosting business formalization. More should follow however. Recently for example, President Faure Gnassingbé promised 20% of public procurements for youths, in order to make the private sector growth’s driver.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
CEET to provide shared compounds with multiple-meter boxes
“Very soon”, Togo’s power utility, Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET), will provide users a meter box containing many protected meters.
According to competent authorities, the box can host up to 6-12 prepaid meters and as such should be an “adequate solution to rental homes and apartments where there are distinct users”.
This would help preserve peace between residents of the same compound. It will also ease payment of power bills which users fail to pay amid conflicts with neighbors with whom they used to share the same meter.
This measure, and the others such as 30% reduction in connection fees or installment payment for the same fees, implemented by CEET will help tackle illegal connection.
Togo : Edem Bessanh, CEO of NUTRI-TOGO, named best SME Entrepreneur of 2017
A FCFA2 million check was recently granted to Edem Komlan Bessanh, CEO of NUTRI-TOGO SARL, by the minister of grass-roots development, Victoire tomégah-Dogbé. This was to reward the entrepreneur for winning the Best 2017 Entrepreneur SME Award.
Bessanh received his reward on March 16, 2018, during a cocktail-dinner. His business, let’s recall, produces mushroom-based beverages labelled “Champiso”. Commenting on his achievement, the entrepreneur said happily : “When you run a business, the most important thing is to have a strategy, knowing where you are heading to and commit to it. We have done many things, internally”. Lauding his team’s efforts he added: “This reward is not the fruit of my efforts alone; we are a team. Each and every one gave their best, in their respective field of work…”
Besides the Small and Medium Entreprises (SME) category, under the micro enterprises category, Elom Kossi Lomenou, who heads a firm called Elégance Plus, won the first prize with a CFA800,000 check.
Overall, 10 young entrepreneurs were rewarded, out of 26 selected. To choose winning participants, a specific set of criteria was observed. These include: contribution to grass-roots development, creating at least three jobs and business plan’s profitability. Also, candidates must have repaid loans they got from FAIEJ and PRADEB.
These two institutions, let it be noted, backed the “Best Entrepreneurs of the Year” contest. However, the event was sponsored by the Presidency. It aims to reward youths who dare and drive their peers to start a business, like they did.
Tanko Timati wants to raise CFA250 million by June 2018, to finance its expansion
Tanko Timati, a Togolese firm specialized in processing organic tomatoes into paste, said it intends to expand to 19 African countries by 2025. In this framework, the firm aims to increase its capital by CFA250 million before June 2018, by opening up its capital.
The local company established in 2016 actually eyes a turnover of more than CFA50 million this year.
Proceeds it will get by opening up its capital will initially be used to meet local demand then prepare to enter already set markets.
Ismael Tanko, CEO Tanko Timati, told Togo First in an interview that fundraising has already started with three potential investors. “At the moment, we are in talks with three parties, knowingly two individuals and an institution, to raise the CFA250 million we need to acquire new machinery to boost production and also install a greenhouse that will allow us to be partially autonomous, at least in regards to input supply,” Tanko said.
Afterward, the entrepreneur called out to potential investors so that the fundraising, which should close before the end of Q2 2018, is successful.
Let’s recall that beside Togo, Tanko Timati is also present in Benin, Burkina and Niger.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo ends Q1 2018 with a good performance, on regional debt market
Togo ends Q1 2018 with a remarkable performance on the regional debt market, UMOA-Titres. Indeed, after recording poor results for its security issuance on March 2, the nation raised CFA17.82 billion over a targeted CFA20 billion (thus an 89.1% coverage) last Friday.
Quite a laudable feat especially considering the mild performance of its neighbor, Benin, the day before. The latter reflects investors’ lack of interest in the region.
Overall, Lomé raised, via securities it issued, about CFA58 billion to finance its budget during Q1 2018.
Next quarter, the government wants to raise CFA40 billion, according to scheduled calendar.
Let’s recall that last week, Togo’s minister of economy and finance announced that a regional bond issued between end-2017 and the beginning of 2018, and arranged by Dakar-based firm CGF Bourse was successful. This operation helped the Treasury raise CFA61.8 billion, while it initially aimed for CFA60 billion.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo wants to reduce time spent by truck on National Road 1 to 24-hours, by 2022
By 2022, the Togolese government wants to shorten to about 24 hours the time spent by a truck to cross the National Road 1 (Lomé-Ouagadougou Corridor).
This would be a significant improvement compared to the current duration, 48-hours, recorded since 2016; and an even greater improvement compared to 2012, when trucks spent 72 hours to cross this road. To achieve its goal, for 2022, the country plans to rehabilitate old roads and build new ones.
In 2012-2016, let’s note also, proportions of roads in good state across the country soared from 18% to 29%. This attests to the fact that roads are better built and also road maintenance has become very important for the government.
To reduce the travelling duration, the government counts on its arm, Société Autonome de Financement et d’Entretien Routier (SAFER) which manages toll revenues, excise duty on oil products and allocate these proceeds to road rehabilitation and maintenance works.
SA
Togo: Consumption prices level slumped by 0.1% year-on-year at January 2018
National Institute for Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) has released a report on the Harmonized Index of Consumption Prices (IHPC) for January 2018. According to the document, global consumption prices level slumped by 0.1% compared to January 2017.
This is mainly due to a 2.9% decrease of the indicator related to “food, non-alcoholic drinks” and “health” baskets. Meanwhile, the indicator related to clothing and shoes slumped by 1%.
However, it (slump in global consumption prices level) can also be attributed to a 0.6% decrease of “Furniture, household equipment indicator” and a 0.9% decrease of the “Alcoholic drinks, tobacco and drugs” indicator.
Contrarily, the “Transports” and “Restaurants-Hotels” indicators respectively rose by 3% and 2.6%.
Inflation rate determined based on the average value of these indicators on a year-to-year basis was -0.6% in January 2018 and -0.8% in December 2017.