Togo First
Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali: Only goods unloaded at the port of Lomé will benefit from the suspension of the statistical levy
Only goods that come to the Port of Lomé by sea and declared as transit bound for Burkina Faso, Mali, or Niger will benefit from the suspension of the statistical levy. The Togolese Revenue Office (OTR) disclosed the news on February 19, 2024.
This levy, applied to imports and exports, finances the country's statistical activities, including data collection, processing, and dissemination of economic and trade information. The statistical levy for Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger was initially set at 2% and then reduced to 1% under the ECOWAS Common External Tariff regime. It had been provisionally suspended since 1975.
The new announcement aims to deter economic operators who unload their goods at neighboring ports and later pass them through Togo to reach the Ouaga-Niamey-Bamako corridor.
This is an important move for Togo, especially since the closure of the border between Benin and Niger due to ECOWAS sanctions against the latter. Goods destined for Niger are now forced to pass through Ouaga, of which Lomé is the natural maritime gateway.
Besides, due to the jihadist threat in northwest Benin, goods destined for Burkina Faso, from the Port of Cotonou, must now pass by Kara in Togo, which is safer than the Porga route in Benin. Lomé intends to take advantage of this opportunity, giving its Sahel customers a cheaper and safer option.
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger recently exited the ECOWAS to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AoSS).
Fiacre E. Kakpo
Togo Digital Agency launches coding contest for young Togolese coders
The 228 Code Challenge, an open coding contest for Togolese coders, is on. The Togo Digital Agency launched the competition on February 24. It ends on March 4.
The challenge is backed by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Digital Transformation and GIZ Togo (through its Digital Transformation Project or ProDigiT).
Contestants will compete for a wide range of prizes, including a laptop, a USB-C Docking Station, a monitor, a TOGAF certification, a Canalbox package with a six-month internet subscription, and a Moov modem with a one-year internet subscription. Winners will also have the opportunity to collaborate on of the TDA’s structuring projects.
Click here to apply.
Thanks to OIF financing, Togo gets eight new reading and cultural centers
Togo is launching its second network of reading and cultural animation centers. This second network regroups eight centers, against 12 for the first. The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) financed the latest network with €700,000. The OIF and Togo signed the related agreement in December 2023.
Details about the project were disclosed last week, by Cyriaque Noussouglo, director of the National Center for Reading and Cultural Animation (CENELAC).
Part of the money was used to buy rolling stock and cultural goods for the new centers and equipment for the previous 12.
CLACs are not only reading centers. There are places to play games such as Scrabble, dominoes, checkers, pétanque, and also watch documentary films.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: Atakpamé to get a new technical landfill next month
Atakpamé should get a new active technical landfill next month. The project is 95% complete, according to the Minister of Water and Rural Hydraulics, Yark Damehane. The official recently visited the site.
"The supervising office (ed. note: in charge of the project) gave us some explanations and set up the completion deadline on March 11, 2024,” Damehane said after visiting the town. Atakpamé is located in the Plateaux region.
The landfill includes internal roads, disposal cells, a basin, and a drying platform. It will make it easier to process waste in Atakpamé and its surroundings.
The project aligns with the government's commitment to improving waste management in urban areas. A similar facility will be set up in Dapaong, in the Savanes region.
It is worth noting that the town of Aképé in the Maritime region also has a technical landfill. The facility was commissioned in 2018.
Togo-ECOWAS: Lomé earned CFA102.6 billion from its exports in Q4 2023
Togo exported CFA102.6 billion worth of goods to its neighbors of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Q4 2023.
Meanwhile, its imports from ECOWAS States amounted to CFA49.6 billion according to data from the National Statistics Institute of Togo (INSEED). This translates into a trade surplus of CFA53 billion, primarily driven by its re-export activities from the bustling port of Lomé.
Throughout the past year, Togo’s exports to other ECOWAS States averaged CFA100 billion quarterly. A laudable performance considering the sanctions against Niger and diplomatic tensions with Sahelian nations Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali.
Year-on-year, the value of exports from Togo to ECOWAS States dropped by 9.1%. From Q3 2023 to Q4 2023, however, the figure rose by 6.8%.
West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)
At the level of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) (which regroups eight CFA-using countries), Togo's exports stood at CFA 84.7 billion in Q4 2023, compared to CFA 28.6 billion for imports. This yielded a trade surplus of CFA56 billion.
The ECOWAS and WAEMU are major business partners of Togo. They respectively captured 40% and 30% of the country’s global exports in Q4 2023. In contrast, imports from ECOWAS and WAEMU accounted for 11.1% and 6.4% of the country's total imports.
Globally, Togo earned CFA256.4 billion from its exports in Q4 2023.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo: U.S. and Germany back PURS emergency program by launching a stability mechanism
The U.S. and Germany launched on 22 February 2024 a mechanism to curb the rising instability in the West African region, from the Sahel to the coastline. The mechanism, the Coastal States Stability Mechanism (CSSM), was launched in Lomé, Togo.
In Togo, the mechanism supports the Emergency program for the Savanes region (PURS). The latter is a State-led program covering the northern part of the country.
The U.S. Ambassador to Togo, Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, commented on the launch: "The U.S. government's commitment to preventing violent conflict before it erupts is firm. We firmly believe that in partnership with governments, organizations, and communities, we can foster conditions of long-term regional stability.”
The German Ambassador added: "It is crucial for us to support the operational coordination of the PURS to enable a rapid and more effective response to the challenges of the Savanes region.”
Through the MSCEC, the U.S. and Germany join the World Bank and the West African Development Bank (BOAD) which also back the PURS.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
WAEMU Securities: Togo to seek CFA35 billion in upcoming issue
For its next issue on the WAEMU market, Togo targets CFA35 billion. Lomé will issue, simultaneously, fungible treasury bonds (OAT), and fungible treasury bills (BAT).
Both securities have respective nominal values of CFA1 million (BAT) and CFA10,000 (OAT). The former mature over 182 and 364 days and have multiple interest rates. The latter mature over three years at a rate of 6.15% per year.
Togo will use the proceeds to fund its 2024 budget which stands at CFA2,179 billion.
The country’s annual target on the WAEMU market is CFA607 billion.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo among African countries to experience highest economic growth in 2024, AfDB forecasts
Worldwide, 20 countries are forecast to experience the strongest economic growth this year. Eleven of them are in Africa, and Togo is one of them. This was recently disclosed by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) in a report titled "Macroeconomic Performances and Prospects of Africa". Togo, according to the report, could record a growth rate of 6% in 2024.
The ten other African countries are Uganda (6%), Niger (11.2%), Senegal (8.2%), Libya (7.9%), Rwanda (7.2%), Ivory Coast (6.8%), Ethiopia (6.7%), Benin (6.4%), Djibouti (6.2%), and Tanzania (6.1%).
The report added that "Africa is expected to remain the second-fastest-growing region after Asia."
The group says the growth in the 11 countries will be driven by greater agricultural production, an expansion of the services sector, and reforms aimed at enhancing private sector participation in energy and mining, among others.
The AfDB further attributed its forecasts to the concerted efforts of African policymakers, in the 11 countries concerned especially. The efforts, in question, foster the implementation of economic diversification strategies for greater investments in key growth sectors.
The report’s authors, however, call “for cautious optimism in light of challenges posed by global and regional risks, including rising geopolitical tensions, increased regional conflicts, and political instability, which could disrupt trade and investment flows and maintain inflationary pressures."
Esaïe Edoh
Togo: WHO Resident Representative reviews partnership with President Gnassingbé
The partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and Togo grew significantly between October 2018 and February 2024. Fatoumata Binta Diallo, Resident Representative of the WHO, made the statement on February 20, at the end of a meeting with Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo.
Among other achievements, the WHO, according to Binta Diallo, has helped improve Togo’s health system, as well as helped contractualize and bolster the country’s partnership with the Global Fund.
Also, the WHO provided technical and financial support for the development of the CHO-SO Hospital. In February 2022, it provided CFA105 million of equipment to the country's biggest hospital.
Together with the World Bank, WHO-Togo also gave paramedical training schools some teaching, computer, and videoconferencing equipment. Over 600 nurses and midwives across the country have also been trained in infection prevention by the institution.
It has also helped Togo fight the Covid 19 pandemic, by bolstering the country’s response capacities with funds from the "Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF)"-$1 million.
The WHO helped Togo to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to hold the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa (RC72) in August 2022.
"We have achieved the objectives. Togo is considered an example today. We can congratulate ourselves on Togo’s improved health system," said Dr. Fatoumata Binta Diallo after meeting with President Gnassingbé.
Esaïe Edoh
India, Burkina Faso, and Mali were Togo’s top 3 importers in Q4 2023
Togo’s biggest export destination in Q4 2023 was India. In value, the exports to the Asian giant amounted to CFA80.1 billion. Quantity-wise, they represented 31.3% of Togo’s total exports over the quarter reviewed.
Burkina Faso followed India, with a share of 8.4% and a value of CFA21.6 billion. Next was Mali (7.4% for CFA19 billion).
France, the USA, and other neighbors...
Togo's other major customers include France (6.9%), the only European country in the top 5, Benin (6.1%), and Ghana (6.0%).
In Q4 2023, Togo earned CFA11.3 billion from its exports to the U.S. It came 8th, right after Côte d'Ivoire (7th), and before Niger and Senegal.
Together, Togo's top ten customers accounted for 83.5% of the quarter's exports by value.
Togo’s exports in Q4 2023 were valued at CFA256.4 billion, up by 14.4% YoY. The main exports were petroleum and bituminous mineral oils, phosphates, and soy-based products.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi