Trading Gate: More than CFA20 billion stolen

Banking

Wednesday, 13 October 2021 16:39

Trading Gate: More than CFA20 billion stolen

(Togo First) - Togolese investors lost more than CFA20 billion in the “Trading Gate” scam. Talking to France 24, Ange Ketor, head of the microfinance professionals association of Togo, said the fake trading and cryptocurrency firms “stole over CFA22 to 25 billion.”

This money, the expert added, “came mainly from formal lenders, like banks and microfinance institutions.” Thousands of savers trusted their money with these placement entities.

Over the past few months, the country’s microfinance entities have been warning the population against placement agents that promise extraordinary profits - ranging from 50% to 100%, and sometimes up to 300%.

The companies singled out, suspended at the end of March by the public authorities for illegally carrying out monetary and financial activities, include CACESPIC-IF Togo Sari, Global Trade Corporation (GTC), Société de Négoce et de Courtage en Banque (SNCB), Leader Bureau Chymall-Sairui Groupe Togo, QNET, TIENS, and J-Global Capital International. France 24 reported that J-Global Capital’s clients lost nearly CFA7 billion.

Last July, the minister of finance, Sani Yaya, announced that a committee would be set up to monitor the reimbursement of funds collected by the concerned trading firms. Recently, many leading members of these firms were arrested by the police.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

REFORMS OVERVIEW

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At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

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In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

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PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

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