Togo: Lebanese businesses active in the free-trade zone invested CFA154 billion in 2022

Investments

Friday, 13 October 2023 16:39

Togo: Lebanese businesses active in the free-trade zone invested CFA154 billion in 2022

(Togo First) - Lebanese companies active in Togo’s free-trade zone invested about CFA154 billion in the country in 2022. According to the Investment and Free Zone Promotion Agency (API-ZF), which compiled the statistics, these businesses created 8,723 jobs for nationals.

These figures were unveiled on Oct. 10, by the minister of investment promotion, Manualla Santos. This was during a meeting with the association of Lebanese business owners of Togo; a meeting held as part of the ministry’s "Investors Breakfast". The meeting took place at the 2 Février hotel in Lomé.

Santos and her team seized the opportunity to present the entrepreneurs with the government’s efforts to improve Togo’s business climate and to cover bottlenecks that slow the Lebanese delegation in their investment and reinvestment. They were also introduced to some projects falling under the government's roadmap. These included energy, agriculture (processing of agricultural raw materials, mechanization), classroom construction, social housing, and tourism projects.

It is worth noting that the recent edition of the Investors Breakfast is the second meeting. The event aims to mobilize local and foreign actors around investment projects in the country. The first edition brought together Togo's business community, bringing together representatives of lawyers, architects, notaries, and customs declarants.

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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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)

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