AfDB President Praises Togo's Efforts to Become Regional Transit Hub

Economy

Friday, 07 July 2023 15:40

AfDB President Praises Togo's Efforts to Become Regional Transit Hub

(Togo First) - "Togo is a rapidly transforming country, with the aim of becoming a key regional transit center for West Africa, a regional hub for air transport, with ASKY Airlines as a major player, a regional hub for maritime transport and logistics, with the port of Lomé now a key transit port." This ambitious vision was hailed on July 3 by Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), during his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2023 General Assembly and the Africa50 Infra Forum.

Adesina claimed that "the African Development Bank has invested massively in Togo."

In detail, the AfDB has allocated over $32 million to Togo's agricultural sector, contributing to inclusive growth and bolstering the country's food self-sufficiency by reducing the import of staple foods like rice, corn, and soybeans.

To improve the country’s transport infrastructure, the AfDB spent €60 million to build and operate the LCT container terminal at the port of Lomé, boosting the latter’s capacity to 1.5 million TEU.

Besides infrastructure, the AfDB plays a key role in supporting youth employment. It allocated $24 million to promising SMEs created by young people. Likewise, the pan-African Bank has committed to facilitating the development of 20,000 affordable homes, with an initial technical assistance of $5 million to support the government's project implementation.

To boost rural electrification, the AfDB disbursed $3.7 million to power 317 communities across five regions with mini solar grids. This initiative aligns with Togo's ambition to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030.

The AfDB also financed the rehabilitation of various markets, including Kara’s.

Adesina, in a recent speech to Africa50's shareholders' general assembly, also praised Africa50's asset recycling initiative with Togo on the Lomé-Kpalimé road project. This initiative is expected to provide the Togolese government with new resources to finance other infrastructure projects in the country.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

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 .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

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

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)

After moving from the 133rd to 127th place under the 2020 Doing Business’ construction permit index, Togo intends to reiterate this feat in the coming edition of the global ranking. To this end, it has introduced this year multiple reforms.

GETTING ELECTRICITY (more info)

Over the past two years, Togo’s ranking under the Doing Business’ Getting electricity and water indicator has increased consistently. Owing this performance to multiple reforms aimed at making it easier for businesses to access power and water, Lomé plans to introduce even more reforms this year to keep up its improvements.

REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.