Togo: Lomé hosts top-level meeting on African digital economies
Friday, 15 December 2023 17:42 
(Togo First) - Togo hosted on December 12, 2023, a top-level meeting aimed at fostering African economies’ digitization. It gathered several local digital experts, officials, and experts from the World Bank.
During the meeting, which was announced by Togo First, Cina Lawson, Togo’s Minister of Digital Economy, underscored the country's ambitions and prospects regarding digitization, through startup support especially.
"In Togo, we intend to digitalize key sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, trade, small business, logistics, and ecosystem support," said Lawson before adding that "digitizing a country is done by supporting its startup ecosystem, and we also plan to support startups with tax incentives, as well as training and funding."
In recent years, Togo has increasingly invested in digital technology to create jobs for all social strata. "Using digital technologies in agriculture yields a tremendous gain in productivity. However, for this gain to be recorded, agriculture's initial inputs must already be present. In many African countries, water control remains an issue, as does the use of fertilizers. Digital technology will have a greater impact. You can't invest in everything. It's simply a question of coordination,” explained Moussa Blimpo, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Toronto. Blimpo took part in the meeting as an expert.
Two panels were hosted during the meeting. The panels, which addressed major shortcomings hampering digital development in the sub-region, brought together the heads of ARCEP and Togocom, among others.
The World Bank meeting was also the occasion for Togo to present a recent report on digital development in Africa.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
