Covid-19 : Togo in talks with Russia to buy its Sputnik V vaccine

Health

Friday, 19 February 2021 10:47

Covid-19 : Togo in talks with Russia to buy its Sputnik V vaccine

(Togo First) - Besides Aztraszenca’s vaccine approved by the WHO, Togo is looking to adopt Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is so severe that we believe that any vaccine that has a chance of saving humanity and protect our people is good to try”, Robert Dussey, Togo's minister of foreign affairs, told Sputnik. “It is therefore obvious that during our stay in Russia, we will negotiate a deal to buy the Sputnik V vaccine for the vaccination campaign scheduled to begin next June. Also, Togo is not the only country to be interested in this vaccine”.

Lomé officially submitted a request to its Russian partner to this end. This was disclosed in a joint press conference held on February 16th, 2021, at St Petersburg, subsequent to a meeting between Togo and Russia's Minister of foreign affairs.

Commenting on the development, Russia's foreign affairs minister, Sergei Lavrov, said: "Our Togolese colleagues have officially requested our cooperation to obtain this vaccine [ed note: Sputnik V]"

The Russian vaccine was recently validated by the International Scientific Community and has so far been adopted by 30 countries in the world. In Algeria, Tunisia, and Guinea where it was used, it recorded an efficacy of 92%.

The deal for the Russian vaccine is being negotiated as Togo prepares to launch the first wave of vaccination soon.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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)

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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)

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PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

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