Decentralization-environment: Togo secures €55 million from EU for two key projects

Public Management

Monday, 31 October 2022 13:13

Decentralization-environment: Togo secures €55 million from EU for two key projects

(Togo First) - Last Friday, Togo and the European Union (EU) inked, in Lomé, two financing agreements worth €55 million, or just over 35 billion CFA francs, for two programs. The first is the PRSPL, a program to strengthen local public services, and the second is the PALCC+, a program aimed at supporting biodiversity protection, agroecology, and better tackling climate change.

The two agreements were signed by Sandra Ablamba Johnson, Minister, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, and Joaquin Tasso Villalonga, Head of the European Union Delegation.

Out of the €55 million provided by the EU, €25 million will go to the PRSPL – €10 million as a grant and the remaining €15 million as a concessional loan. The funds help bolster the capacities of local authorities, towards improving the management of solid and liquid waste and expanding the capacities of the technical landfill center (CET) of Aképé.

The remaining €30 million, a grant, planned for the second project, the PALCC+, will help manage the protected areas of Fazao-Malfakassa, Abdoulaye, and Togodo-Mono, and build 11 monitoring stations in these areas. Besides, part of the money will serve to rehabilitate 150 km of rural roads, build 120 km of rural tracks, train over 300 charcoal burners, and distribute more than 60,000 efficient and standardized local cooking equipment.

The two programs will, according to the Minister of Territorial Administration, Payadowa Boukpessi, help improve, significantly, the living conditions of the Togolese people, especially the poorest.

"The signing of the two financing agreements comes at the right time when the government is implementing the Togo 2025 government roadmap with the vision of making Togo a country at peace and a modern nation with inclusive and sustainable economic growth," said the official.

For his part, Joaquin Tasso Villalonga, Head of the EU Delegation in Togo, said the agreements reflect the EU’s commitment to decentralization and environment in the West African country.

As a reminder, these financing signatures are part of the implementation phase of the Joint Programming Document (JPD) 2021-2027.

Esaïe Edoh

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