Togo sustains its performance in the World Bank’s country policy and institutional assessment (CPIA)
Monday, 17 August 2020 16:06 
(Togo First) - For the third consecutive year, Togo improved its score in the World Bank’s country policy and institutional assessment (CPIA).
According to the latest update of the document released this month, the country scored 3.3, thus 0.1 points more than last year and above the average score of sub-Saharan countries.
Togo performed especially well - with a score of 3.6 - under the cluster of policies for social inclusion and equity while the public sector management and institutions cluster is the country’s Achilles heel with a score of 3.1.
The efficiency of revenue mobilization
Worth noting is the nation’s efficient revenue mobilization score (it appraises tax policies and tax administration) which contrasts with an overall decrease across the region. Indeed, in a context where the regional average for this criterion slumped from 3.4 in 2018 to 3.3 in 2019, only one country - Togo - improved its score while it fell in six countries, knowingly Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Liberia, Sao Tomé & Principe, Tanzania, and Sudan.
A big reformer
Already praised by the Doing Business, Togo’s efforts at improving its business climate were again confirmed by the CPIA authors who consider the country as a “big reformer.”
Among others, key improvements include broadening the tax base, introducing a new tax code, and creating a single account for paying VAT loans.
Gender equality
One of the main areas where Togo performed was the gender equality criteria which assesses the extent to which a country has created institutions and programs to enforce laws and policies that promote equal access for men and women in education, health, the economy, and protection under the law. While the regional average stands at 3.2, Togo, with a score of 3.5, is the only country where the equality rating has increased over the past year.
Regarding equity in the use of public resources, policies and institutions focused on ecological sustainability, the country scored 4.0. This makes it one of four nations to have improved under this criterion and one of two (the other being Mali) to have recorded an increase.
In the Africa zone
Out of the 39 IDA countries in sub-Saharan Africa that were featured in the World Bank’s CPIA, Togo ranked 15th. Rwanda obtained the highest score, 4.0, the same as last year. It is followed by Cape Verde (3.8), Senegal, Kenya, Uganda (3.7 respectively).
With a score of 3.2, Nigeria is behind Togo. Sudan comes last with a score of 1.4. Overall, 15 of the 39 countries assessed had a score lower than the average for the region.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
