Nunya Lab recently held its first Mercredi Talks since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Togo

ITC

Friday, 26 February 2021 18:11

Nunya Lab recently held its first Mercredi Talks since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Togo

(Togo First) - Last Wednesday, business experts, young entrepreneurs, and startups incubated by Nunya Lab gathered for the Mercredi Talk. The event had for a theme ICT opportunities for Togolese startups.

The Talks, the first edition this year and also the first since the pandemic broke out in the country, was hosted by Emefa Kpegba, MD E-Technopole, and Edeh Dona ETCHRI, founder of E-Agribusiness and E-Agrisky.

The two experts who are well known in the tech environment in Togo shared lessons they learned as entrepreneurs, mentioning resilience, perseverance, and courage as key qualities to succeed.

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ICT, Tech, and training

More importantly, the goal of the event was to introduce young entrepreneurs to opportunities available in the tech industry, leveraging new tools like Big Data, AI, Blockchain, and cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin especially which has gained fame in recent years).

The two hosts in this regard stressed the need for training and skill acquisition for startuppers.

“Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, what to do with those? (...) First of all, we need training, it’s imperative,” said Kpegba, who also happens to be a data scientist and an IT engineer.

“As youth, if we want to innovate we need to get training (...) There are free courses online; all you need is an internet connection (...) there are even wifi spaces where you can easily access the web,” she added.

Moreover, in terms of opportunities, to create value and transform, a given community requires “reading the latest news revealing innovations, and learning how to match what worked elsewhere to Togolese needs and realities.”

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Opportunities

For his part, Donah Etchri declared: We missed the industrial revolution but we now have the chance to catch up with the others with the digital revolution. According to the young entrepreneur, the objective should be to find “solutions to our challenges, solutions which can serve our communities.”

He then added that there are many opportunities available, “be it in the health, agriculture, tourism, and event sectors.”

To close the talks, both hosts recommended the Togolese youth to study success stories, both within and outside Togolese borders, and use the data obtained to tackle local issues. Sectors like logistics, transport, e-commerce, delivery, entertainment, health and wellness, urbanism, security, and civic engagement, or energy and the environment are full of challenges that need to be dealt with.

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)

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.