TOGO-BUSINESS Togo seeks to become West Africa's financial hub with new infrastructure ventures

Record ID: 150525

  • Title: TOGO-BUSINESS Togo seeks to become West Africa's financial hub with new infrastructure ventures
  • Date: 9th June 2015
  • Summary: LOME, TOGO (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ECOBANK HEADQUARTERS ECOBANK FLAGS MORE OF EXTERIOR OF ECOBANK VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF ECOBANK WITH CUSTOMER WITHDRAWING MONEY VARIOUS OF ECOBANK AND AIRLINE COMPANY ASKY FOUNDER GERVAIS DJONDO SEATED IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (French) GERVAIS DJONDO, ECOBANK AND AIRLINE COMPANY ASKY FOUNDER SAYING: "Togo is a country which at some
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3J45RCYW8X1LMGMGKLUJO38PP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The scale of the ambition of Togo, a small nation home to seven million people, is clear as you look around the capital, Lome.
    As it seeks to establish itself as the economic hub for West Africa, Lome is also undergoing a facelift; with ongoing road and building construction throughout the capital.
    Lome is also home to pan-African banking giant Ecobank and flourishing regional airline Asky, launched five years ago.
    Planes will soon park at a new gleaming terminal due to replace the current one, bursting at the seams as ASKY ferries passengers criss-crossing West and Central Africa.
    "Togo is a country which at some point was known as the Switzerland of Africa. It is all a question of will. There has been the political will from politicians to support those who want to achieve something," said Gervais Djondo, the co-founder of Ecobank and founder and chairman of ASKY.
    The firms that Djondo established are now regional leaders in their sectors and symbolise the pan African vision that he and many others say are necessary for businesses to succeed in a region fragmented by its colonial past.
    ASKY was set up in late 2007 in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines and seeks to help fill the void created by the collapse in 2002 of Air Afrique, a regional operator controlled by Francophone African governments.
    With most economies enjoying robust economic growth, there is high demand for air travel in the region. But flights are expensive and frequently delayed and airlines are plagued by debt and bad management.
    Now carrying 9,500 passengers a week, ASKY flies to 22 destinations across a patchwork of nations in West and Central Africa.
    "We want to make Lome a regional hub. As you know, having an aerial hub is strategic for any country and will also go towards attracting investors, increase trade and tourism and also improve regional integration," said ASKY new CEO, Henoc Teferra.
    Togo's infrastructure expansions are signs of progress towards establishing itself as a regional infrastructure and services hub modelled on Singapore or Dubai.
    Better security in waters off Lome has lured ships away from neighbouring Benin and regional giant Nigeria, threatened by pirates. Developments at Lome's port could reshape regional shipping if it succeeds in establishing itself as a hub serviced by the world's largest vessels.
    The World Bank's 2015 Doing Business report showed Togo had risen 15 places on the year before, a sign that reforms were kicking in.
    Although analysts acknowledge the solid economic growth and infrastructure developments, poverty levels remains high.
    According to economic analyst Stephane Akaya, Togo faces competition from the likes of a resurgent Ivory Coast and frequent strikes by civil servants, a reminder of grinding poverty, but there was no denying steps being taken to make Togo more competitive and a regional player.
    "Togo's human development index (HDI) went from 0.4 to 0.5 percent last year, and as a result, we think that Togo is well positioned to become a regional hub, meaning that it can become a country on which West Africa can rely on to play an important role geopolitically as well as on the international stage," Akaya said.
    Despite tensions that followed the announcement of Faure Gnassingbe third term in office last month, and saw regional leaders travel to Lome to mediate, Togo avoided the kind of post-election violence that saw hundreds killed in the aftermath of previous polls.
    According to official figures, Togo's GDP's has more than doubled since 2005. But critics say the benefits have mainly gone to a wealthy majority, while most ordinary Togolese still suffer from high poverty and unemployment rates.
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