Togo- Report of government activities of September 12 and 13, 2022 in Kpalimé | icilome

Lomé, Tuesday September 13, 2022. The government met in Kpalimé (Prefecture of Kloto), under the chairmanship of His Excellency Faure Essozimna GNASSINGBE, President of the Republic, in a government seminar and in the Council of Ministers on Monday 12 and Tuesday September 13, 2022.

I. Under the government seminar,

2. This second government seminar of the year aimed to review the progress of projects on the 2020-2025 government roadmap and to discuss major themes for our country.

3. Speaking at the opening of the work, His Excellency the President of the Republic recalled the economic constraints that weigh on the implementation of the said projects, in particular the weather, the consequences of the crises we are experiencing and the security situation particularly worrying.

4. In this context, he invited the Ministers not only to remain mobilized, but above all to be innovative in order to identify the levers making it possible to accelerate the achievement of results. Thus, lessons must be learned from the good practices that have been observed during these two years of implementation of the roadmap while striving to adjust the methodologies in the face of the various challenges encountered.

5. He recalled the need to pay attention to the well-being of populations, particularly in the context we are going through.

6. This was followed by a review of the level of execution of the projects of the government roadmap for which good developments were noted, as well as points for improvement, particularly in terms of execution.

7. At the end of the deliberations, the Head of State gave guidelines for the acceleration of priority projects and the achievement of the objectives of this roadmap for the benefit of the populations.

8. This seminar was also an opportunity to discuss with experts on urban planning, universal health insurance and investment attraction.

9. The very enriching exchanges will be used to perfect the actions planned as part of the implementation of the government roadmap.

II. Under the Council of Ministers,

10. The council examined one (01) draft law, two (02) draft decrees and listened to three (03) communications.

2.1. Under the draft law

11. The Board reviewed and adopted the draft amending finance law for the 2022 fiscal year.

12. The study of this text was preceded by a report on the special session of the extended national social dialogue council (CNDS) which was held on Friday 09 September 2022. The council congratulated the social partners for their spirit of responsibility and announced that appropriate measures will be proposed in particular within the framework of this amending finance law.

13. This draft law is justified by the evolution of the national and international socio-economic situation that occurred during the execution of the initial finance law promulgated on December 31, 2021. It also takes into account the evolution the regional and national security situation.

14. The draft amending finance law thus takes into account new expenditure to meet security expenditure and social expenditure intended to support the purchasing power of the population.

15. Thus, a special provision is reserved in order to pursue and amplify the measures to protect purchasing power. This involves maintaining subsidies on petroleum products and gas, but also direct support for populations and the increase in the fertilizer subsidy, which is increased from 1.5 billion to 7.5 billion francs. CFA.

16. These measures materialize the special attention paid to supporting populations in a context marked by multiple crises that affect their purchasing power.

17. As for security expenditure, a special allocation is also planned to continue to provide our defense and security forces with adequate means to carry out their mission, in accordance with the wishes of the Head of State, His Excellency Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, to make the preservation of security a priority among the priorities.

2.2. Under the draft decrees,

18. The council examined and adopted the draft decree on the creation, powers, organization and functioning of the Observatory of the quality of financial services in Togo.

19. This decree aims to set up an observatory of the quality of services delivered in order to ensure that citizens/customers obtain quality services at a sustainable cost, both from players in the banking sector and from those of the insurance sector. This is a system aimed at supporting and encouraging the progress observed in our country with regard to the financial inclusion of populations.

20. The council examined and adopted the draft decree relating to the procedures for registration, rectification and updating of the demographic and biometric data of natural persons and the conditions of use of the unique identification number in the Togolese Republic.

21. As part of the implementation of the project for the identification of natural persons in Togo, the adoption of this text makes it possible to specify the general framework in which operations relating to demographic and biometric data are carried out, as well as the conditions use of the unique identification number. This decree constitutes one of the links in the institutional environment for the identification of natural persons.

2.3. Under communications

22. The council listened to an initial communication relating to the draft decree setting the terms for modifying the specifications of electronic communications operators; presented by the Minister for the Digital Economy and Digital Transformation.

23. This decree defines the conditions and elements that must be taken into consideration in the context of the modification of the said specifications: the initiative for this modification, the principles and the framework for its implementation. It aims to create favorable conditions to guarantee better coverage of the territory by electronic communications operators and thus facilitate generalized access to the Internet at a lower cost for populations.

24. The council then listened to a communication relating to the planning and budget execution strategy for the construction of feeder roads for the year 2022-2023; presented by the Minister for Accessibility and Rural Roads.

25. This communication aims to seek the approval of the Council on proposals for the reorganization of the Ministry’s budget, in order to cover the expenses of the various procedures and to accelerate the planned actions.

26. As a reminder, the government aims, within the framework of the government roadmap, to ensure the development of at least 4,000 km of rural roads.

27. The council listened to a last communication relating to the program of fight against the losses of electric energy on the network of the CEET; presented by the Minister delegate in charge of energy and mines.

28. This communication aims to report to the Board on the start of CEET control and verification operations in order to reduce the loss rate on its network; in particular, losses linked to the fraudulent consumption of electricity.

29. Vigorous actions will be taken in this direction in the coming days by carrying out checks on the equipment with the objective of reducing the loss rate by at least 2%, in accordance with its performance contract.

30. The council welcomed the launch of these operations and invited the population to cooperate with the CEET teams in order to allow the checks to proceed smoothly.

III. Under miscellaneous,

31. The Board expressed its warm thanks to the brave people of Kpalimé for the enthusiastic welcome they received. He salutes their spirit of resilience and encourages them to remain committed to government initiatives that are transforming the face of this beautiful region.

32. In this respect, meetings were held between the high authorities and the active forces of the “grand Kloto”. The exchanges held will be the subject of a dedicated press release.

Done in Kpalimé, September 13, 2022

The Council of Ministers