By the end of this year, 70% of the Togolese territory should have electricity. The Ministry of Finance recently published a Citizen’s Budget report where the forecast was. The projection, however, came from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

According to the document, Togo recorded an electrification rate of 66%, 63%, and 59% in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. To achieve its 70% goal this year, the government set aside a provisional budget of CFA57 billion to finance various energy projects and programs. 

The Ministry of Energy will use the money to develop off-grid networks, through projects such as the CIZO, the PRAVOST, or the Tinga initiative. Part of the funds will help expand the Blitta solar plant. 

Recently, a power supply project was launched in Sokodé (Central region). From there, it will be extended to various cities, including Dapaong, Kara, Atakpamé, Kpalimé, and Aného. In detail, it involves laying 34 km of  20 KV medium-voltage network, the construction of 61 MV/LV distribution substations, and 360 km of low-voltage (LV) network.

Esaïe Edoh 

Niger could become the fifth country to strike a free-roaming partnership with Togo. Last week, a delegation from Niger’s telecom watchdog discussed the possibility with its Togolese counterpart. The delegation was in Lomé until March 26. 

The partnership could, according to the two sides, “make it easier for the people (of both countries, ed. note) to use telecom services when moving from or to one of the two States.”

During its mission, the delegation from Niger learned more about Togo’s telecom regulation techniques, especially its new “data-based regulation” method. 

Before Niger, delegations from Comoros and Mauritania were also in Togo to learn from the Togolese watchdog, ARCEP Togo. 

Esaïe Edoh 

Togo produced 2,406,614 tons of tubers in 2023, up from 2,238,529 tons in 2022. The output thus rose by 7.5% year-on-year according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture. 

In detail, over half of last year’s tuber output (1,433,955 tons) came from the Plateaux and Centrale regions. The two regions produced 720,228 tons and 705,735 tons, respectively. The remainder of the production came from the other three regions: Maritime (481,664 tons), Kara (462,885 tons), and Savanes (28,111 tons).

The recent increase is a continuation of the dynamic that started in 2017. Indeed, from that year to 2021, Togo’s tuber output soared by 12%, from around 1,950,000 tons to 2,193,462 tons.

The sector has been thriving and the government intends to keep it that way. Last year, Lomé validated a plan covering the 2024-2028 period to boost the industry. The plan, named Investment Action Plan for the Root and Tuber Crop Sector (PRT), was drawn by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Interprofessional Council of the Root and Tuber Crop Sector (CIFPRT). The government plans to invest CFA2.34 billion in this strategy.

Esaïe Edoh

Dongaco Togo, a subsidiary of Dongaco, has set up its operations at the Adétikopé Industrial Platform (PIA). The firm holds a license for producing Coca-Cola products in Togo.

"We will be exploiting all Coca-Cola products. Specifically, for Coca-Cola at the PIA today, we have 7 hectares," stated Thiam Lamine Amadou, the company's CEO. "We have two projects here, and the first one concerns Coca-Cola, which we will operate on 4 hectares. On the remaining 3 hectares, there is a second project in the pipeline," he added.

Dongaco Togo plans to create 2,000 local jobs over the next two to three years.

The firm’s arrival at the PIA is a new development resulting from the separation between Castel and Coca-Cola in 2022. The breakup between the French and US firms led to a change in strategy in the production and distribution of Coca-Cola products in Togo.

Dongaco is not the only company to have positioned itself and expressed interest in the PIA in recent weeks. FHC Medica, a drug manufacturer, and New Huasha Company Limited, a manufacturer of melamine and plastic tableware, also joined the platform recently. 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo President, Faure Gnassingbé, inaugurated an integrated poultry farming at Avétonou (Agou prefecture), about 100 km from Lomé. The facility spans 660 hectares.

The project is led by Porteo-Graine, a subsidiary of the Porteo Group. The facility will include a poultry area covering 162 ha. The remaining space will accommodate the Agricultural Research Technical Institute (ITRA), the Institute of Alternative Training and Development (IFAD-Avetonou), and the Eco-Village.

The core of the poultry project revolves around several operational units, including a poultry feed manufacturing plant with a production capacity of 450 tons per day, a hatchery unit capable of producing 1.2 million chicks per week, a slaughter unit processing up to 10,000 chickens per hour, and seven breeding farms intended to produce up to 50 million chickens per year (against 35 million heads produced across the country at present) in its initial phase. In the second phase, production should double, reaching 100 million chickens per year. Also, the project should create over a thousand new decent jobs.

Financial details relative to the project are yet to be known. So is the date on which it will be completed.

The Togolese government explained that the project aligns with its goals of achieving food self-sufficiency and becoming a key player in West Africa’s poultry industry. In line with these ambitions, the country intends to develop and operate 100,000 hectares in collaboration with various partners.

The Porteo Group, which steers the project, is well-known for developing various construction and road infrastructure projects in West Africa, notably in Côte d'Ivoire and recently in Benin and Togo. In the latter, the firm secured two years ago a contract to rebuild Lomé’s Grand Market. Through the new project, it now ventures into agriculture. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo

Togo has implemented for the first time a green budget. The budget stands at CFA118.2 billion per year and represents 5.41% of the national budget for 2024, which stands at CFA2,179 billion. 

The forecast green budget will help sustain measures to mitigate climate change and protect the environment. In detail, CFA96 billion will be allocated to climate change mitigation, and CFA22 billion to environmental protection.

The green budget will focus on adaptation, mitigation, biodiversity improvement, facilitating access to water, combating pollution, and waste management. About 56% of the green budget, CFA66 billion, will be invested in climate change adaptation, while nearly CFA30 billion, or 26% of the allocation, will help mitigate climate change’s effects.

Among others, the green budget will finance projects that aim to increase forest cover to 26% of the territory by 2030 through the restoration of 1.4 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes and the planting of 1 billion trees by 2030.

Various socioeconomic development projects will also be carried out. These will focus on helping vulnerable populations be more resilient to climate change and its impacts.

Initially, the green budget will be shared across nine ministries. However, in the future, it will extend to 22 other ministerial departments and 12 state institutions until the whole central administration is covered. 

Esaïe Edoh

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) recently announced it has approved new financial commitments totaling CFA169.483 billion. The Bank approved the facilities during its 141st board of directors meeting in Dakar.  

The financings include a CFA5 billion refinancing line for African Lease Togo. These financings are primarily distributed across the financial sector but also in infrastructure and agro-industry. Additionally, investments have been made in real estate and road infrastructure projects in several countries within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

These new commitments are part of BOAD's “Djoliba” development plan. The latter aims to support sustainable growth across the Bank’s member countries.

The BOAD was created by an agreement signed on November 14, 1973. However, it started operating in 1976, supporting all eight members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). 

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

A fire broke recently at the Port of Lomé. The incident took place on the night of March 23 to 24, according to the Ministry of Economy and Coastal Protection. 

The source informed that the fire lasted two hours. However, it added that firefighters intervened, and an abandoned store belonging to the Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR) was hit.

While no casualties were reported, the fire’s origin remains unknown.

In July 2021, dozens of tons of cotton stored in warehouses on the port platform were destroyed in a fire. Later in February 2022, a fire ravaged several vehicles on display at the Société Libano-Togolaise de Transport (SLTT) yard. Also, two weeks ago the Ministry of Maritime Economy confirmed the explosion of a Togolese vessel.

Esaïe Edoh

Robert Dussey, Togo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, was in Washington last week for an audience with Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS). Two months earlier, Togo joined the organization as a permanent observer. 

"As a permanent observer to the OAS, I invited Togo to take advantage of our organization's strategic position in the region," Almagro posted on Twitter.

I welcomed today Foreign Minister of the Togolese Republic Robert Dussey @rdussey. We discussed our common challenges in Africa and in the Americas—security, terrorism, and development, among others. We agreed on the importance of fostering cross-regional understanding and… pic.twitter.com/Z5hZLk61f4

— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) March 20, 2024

The two diplomats also discussed strategies for strengthening inter-regional cooperation and meeting common security challenges in Africa and the Americas.

The two sides also “agreed on the importance of fostering interregional understanding and cooperation,” according to Luis Almagro.

Founded in 1948, the OAS comprises 35 member states on the American continent and operates in the spheres of diplomacy and cooperation. By joining the OAS, Togo aims to explore investment opportunities in key sectors including agriculture, mining, and regional trade.