TOGOCOM-Cina Lawson, an economy in cuts regulated by powerful women: Chronicle of the race that "invented" Togo

The best way to push a country into bankruptcy is to leave it in the hands of businessmen. In Togo, we are there. The law allows a public man to be both a businessman and a servant of the people. The public men have nothing more to reproach themselves with, except that, in situations too compromising, they resign themselves to display. Since then this situation was born with the businessmen at the controls, disorder is installed wherever money passes. On the sea, disorder has put the port bankrupt, on the mainland, it has put all state companies kneel. Even in the Togolese basements, the disorder is installed. It is for nothing that the exploitation of phosphates, iron and clinker, the management of the first three minerals of the stuttering country. For a while, When we take stock of public enterprises in default, the site Togocel as a survivor of a collective sinking. But it's not counting on the metamorphosis going on in the communications sector. The predators of the national economy have chosen the new target. A race of the first responsible begins, decisively, to behave as if Togo were their invention.



In an environment where vices are increasingly replacing the virtues, it seems that we sometimes hate companies that make a difference. And there is great anxiety when such a machine is installed and there is no one, not even the government, to stop it. That is what we are talking about if we keep to the backlogs of a whole government that is covered with dust under the will of a minister. For anyone who knows how to operate, it seems that our leaders are now a sect where everyone drags so many pots that no one can reason. Every organized society, which is guided by ignorant people, runs after its destruction. Unless some people fall short of the skills they claim, it is difficult to understand their attitudes. At the appointment of Dame Cina Lawson, we were among those who took a hat-trick from Mr. Faure Gnassingbe. We had believed, mistakenly, that he had just defied the policy of his late father, who took a category of citizens for stateless persons. Needless to recall the turbulent relations between the father of the current minister of the digital economy and the late president. We were flattered by the fact that the prince, who now turns out to be an elephant with a broken foot, has gone to draw what we considered to be a skill in the world of "enemies of yesterday".

But at the very first turn, we risk being deflated, if we are not already. Worse, it is that, the latest developments credibilize the fact that, in this two-speed process in telecommunications, More than a mere intellectual myopia, there is also and above all a question of a real will to enfariner a whole Republic in the famous policy of a fusion-foundation called TOGOCOM. Certainly, even in the healthiest manners of the best democracies of the citizens hide behind state societies to protect their interests, but with the gigantic monster called TOGOCOM, some behave as if the rest of the Togolese were corrupt idiots thank you.

Tracebacks and contradictions that say it all

If we keep to the first interviews she gave to some international media, Cina Lawsson is a "former telecommunication consultant with the World Bank". It blew its 43 years when Mr. Faure used it to manufacture its Minister of Posts and Digital Economy (MPEN), it was in 2013. At the time, although one-legged, Togot Telecom could be saved. Even if one can estimate that the box was already demolished under his predecessor Dogbé, it is in his hands that the clinical death of the ancestor of the telecom companies of Togo was observed. Elsewhere, this was enough to explain. But here, it is the opportunity for her to unfold her cards. This lady had the rare privilege, unless the future proves the contrary, to have accumulated some experience in an international institution, "World Bank", it is said. In these boxes, it is rigor, management on the basis of scientifically projected visions. The Togolese believed therefore to be able to leave the claws of one of the most mediocre and more expensive communications of Africa after Guinea. Five years ago when our writings denounced communication in Togo as one of the most expensive in Africa after Guinea. If we keep to what has been said of her, by taking such a department, "the telecommunication consultant to the World Bank" is in her biotope. In Togo, public opinion also knows that for some ministers, everything else is decided while they represent only extras without initiative.

But for reasons that are beyond our grasp, this lady was and still is powerful enough to print her plan and vision in telecom rehabilitation policy. The posts and telecommunications barded of the digital economy have, indeed, The wind in the sails in the new world. This area is normally a mining site to be exploited if the Minister is up to date with jurisdiction. But one thing is to have your hands free to work, the other thing is to have the know-how. God is witness that the present government is full of incompetents, which after an assessment made by Dominique Stross Kan, DSK, regularly asked by the prince, normally had no place.

It should be remembered that while there is one sector that is attracting the attention of all investors in Africa these days, it is the telecommunications sector, notably the mobile and Internet sectors. In Togo, the figures do not deceive despite the personal management of state enterprises: On reading the reliable data provided to us by the 2014 ARTP report ("Autorité de Régulation des Postes et Télécommunication"), "of 87 billion FCFA in the first half of 2013, the total turnover recorded by The telephony sector rose to 93 billion CFA francs as of June 30, 2014. At the time, the Internet gleaned with a penetration rate of 5.4% to 6.6% for the same margin. The same report shows that the volume of outgoing traffic (volume of outgoing calls) rose from 351 million minutes in the first half of 2013 to 432 million minutes over the same period in 2014, an increase of 23%. In short, the figures were perfectly fine and, even when Togot Telecom collapsed, he was among "the 500 best companies in Africa" ​​according to files published by our deans of Jeune Afrique. The strong generation of consumption makes the black continent a wasteland, a target of large telephony operators and Togo with.

That is to say that unless there was a lack of self-identification, there was nothing to prevent Lady Cina Lawson from succeeding in turning her department into a portal for the national economy. Are not the backpedalings which have enamelled the vision of this lady enough to pass to the scanner the project that carries its department?

In any case, masks fall

In 2014, after a Cabinet Council, the Minister of the digital economy, Cina-Lawson, announced the arrival of a third operator in 2015. The decision-makers of the Republic maintained that this decision was justified by the fact that the members of the government felt the need for the country to "adopt a strategy aimed at creating a new competitive dynamic and raising the level of investment in Infrastructure in order to enable the telecommunications sector to realize its full potential and foster the development of the digital economy ". We did not stop at the speeches, a call for tenders had been launched. We were in June 2014, so the government gave itself a few months to complete the process.
During the same periods, the operator "Orange" maintained exchanges. The councils had advanced and the presumed director Togo of the French operator had even taken up residence in a furnished villa in the vicinity of Agoè in Lomé. But in a previous case, we announced to you that the gentleman left our country on tiptoe before his suitcase was sent to him and the fruits of his "orange trees" did not mature. Divorce is consummated with this French company, this is only a parenthesis.

In 2016, during the launch of the 3G of Moov Togo, the same minister returns with a second layer: "For a Togolese market of 7 million inhabitants, it is difficult to attract the interest of a third operator" . This is not a joke, The minister knows what she is talking about when she raises the hat of the announcement of the third operator to journalists in these terms: "This issue of a third operator is a problem for journalists, and it is not that of citizens. What interests them is not so much that there are three (3), four (4) or five (5) operators. It is to have quality service at competitive prices. That is what citizens really want, and that is what we are committed to. " Of course yes, we do not need to multiply the mobile operators to lower prices. Four years ago, in another case, where we published a comparative analysis of the prices of mobile telephony in the subregion, we noted the fact that Mali had only two operators, But its costs were among the least expensive in Africa. In Togo, therefore, there is no need to multiply the operators to reduce prices, even if with this backpedaling the leaders are wrong with their first exit. But the big surprise is that, what applies to mobile telephony is not necessarily worth for the internet.

Everything depends on the interests of the only minister who can desert his office for two months without reporting. If the Togolese do not need a third operator to access its services of quality at a lower cost, it is necessary to call on a whole string of Internet operators to lower prices. Who says better ? The truth of mobile phone operators is a pure lie for internet operators. This new position therefore allowed that, In the Internet services, other operators, especially those who know how to take interest in the interests of the robbers of the national economy, are invited. Cina has just awarded two (2) Internet Service Provider (ISP) licenses to Téolis SA and Vivendi Africa Togo (GVA Togo). The official award ceremony took place on Wednesday, June 07, 2017, at the Hotel Sarakawa. Just 24 hours after this release, we were already denouncing what continues so far to resemble a scam and a crime against a bearer sector.

The same lady who closed the door to the competition of a third operator is pleased to have opened the market, to any wind, to Internet operators. "The award of these licenses will notably improve the quality of service of the Internet, To reinforce competition with consequent lower prices ", it is in these terms that the lady vented her new find.

The call for competition for the award of new licenses to Internet service providers was officially launched on 03 October 2016. Nine months later, of the fifteen bidders, the company Téolis SA is, among others, retained. Created on Thursday, February 18, 2016, it is managed by Mrs SIDIBE Halima. We also talk about a son in OGAMO Bagna, a personal friend at the most '' Faure '' of the Togolese. The HEADQUARTERS is in Lomé, S / C LBC-Tokoin Gbonvié, Street of the Central Garage.

Among the lucky ones, there is also the group Vivendi Africa Togo. It is not only a subsidiary of Boloré, it is reinforced by the presence of one of the little sisters of Cina Lawsson. From the company Téolis SA enamelled by the personal friends of the prince to the group Vivendi Africa, also reinforced by the presence of the relatives of Cina, can we speak of a Happy coincidence or a regulated cut of one of the sectors carrying the National economy? We dare to believe that the BTCI episode is not coming back. We must pass on to you the confidence that, recently, the building housing the BTCI has come close to a sale. And they were unsuspected personalities at the top who were the potential buyers. But the sale is canceled when everything was almost finished.

According to our investigations and documents in our possession, Vivendi Africa Togo (GVA Togo) was created on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. The call for tenders was curiously launched on October 3, 2016. Decidedly, There are those children who are born with their complete teeth, newborns born in activity before birth and thus able to delight the celebrity to their elders to the turn of the dining table. We simply give you a reading of the document.
The last layer of this tailored process

It comes from the council of ministers of July 13, 2017. The predators do not shrink from anything. They know how to give the necessary attention to their projects. It does not matter if it sounds like an insult to the intelligence of the Togolese. Four decrees allowing the finalization of the process of transformation of the Togocom group were born. The stage is intended as a hinge in this process of transformation of a sector of communication. "The first decree adopted by the council creates, Allocations and organization of the Togolese Holding Company of Electronic Communications (provisionally abbreviated TOGOCOM) ". "The second decree creates, allocates and organizes the subsidiary Infrastructure, temporarily called" Togo InfraCom ". This subsidiary is responsible for long-term investments as well as for the construction and operation of fixed and mobile infrastructures ". "The third decree creates, allocates and organizes the subsidiary Service, temporarily called" Togo ServiceCom ". This subsidiary offers convergent and innovative offers (voice and Internet, fixed and mobile) to individual customers and businesses. "Finally, the fourth decree creates, allocates and organizes the subsidiary Installation and support to maintenance, Temporarily referred to as "Togo InstalCom". It is responsible for the installation, repair and maintenance of equipment. In this way, the "TOGOTELECOM-TOGOCEL" Group is reorganized to make it more effective in order "to improve the quality of customer services; The extension of very high-speed Internet coverage to the entire population and the significant drop in prices that will have to align with the continent's lowest prices. "

An important detail, a murder sentence is slipped in the release to lull the employees of the two companies now delinquent, Togocel and Togot Telecom: "It is important to remember that this transformation is an internal operation that does not affect services and Current operations; The companies Togo Télécom and Togo Cellulaire being attached as such to TOGOCOM "! Except that, one can rightly wonder what is worth a merger-creation of a communication company stripped of all its skills. The next merger sounds like a stillborn when it is known that it is toothless of its "subsidiary Infrastructure". This subsidiary is responsible for "long-term investments as well as the construction and operation of fixed and mobile infrastructures". It lost its subsidiary Service. The service subsidiary "offers convergent and innovative offers (voice and Internet, fixed and mobile) to private customers and businesses". Finally, it is also pruned from the subsidiary Installation and support to maintenance. The latter is "responsible for the installation, Repair and maintenance of equipment ". Togocom, will have none of these skills, what will it serve? And it is not by chance that already, the debate opens on the fate to be reserved to the employees of these two boxes. '' Bis repetita '', will we still talk about redeployment as in the case of the OTR? For grace, that individuals use the state to do their business, they are free. But let them take into account that even if all citizens are not ministers to give their advice to a council, they are citizens who reflect and who are entitled to a little respect in what they are listened to . In one of her outings, she said: "We have invested heavily in fiber optic infrastructure in the capital, linking in particular nearly 500 administrative buildings, Public lycées and hospitals in Lomé ". What was the use of this massive investment, where are we now? No logic is too ugly if it defends the interests of some.

TOGO TELECOM-TOGOCEL, a glorious past

The first is considered as the grandfather of telecommunications since 1997. It was rain and fine weather with the landline telephone. The second operator was created on February 18, 1998. It is a state-owned corporation of private commercial character, a subsidiary of its ancestor. Mobile telephony therefore started under the name TOGO CELLULAIRE. Rooted in its monopoly, the arrival in 1999 of TELECEL TOGO, later become MOOV-TOGO, could not dethrone its supremacy. From the first half of 2013 and 2014, It can be deduced that the cellular telephony operator Togo keeps the best performance despite the international presence of its only competitor Atlantique Telecom, ie, Moov. The total volume of traffic leaving in 2013 on mobile networks has been generated at 71.5% by Togo cellular and 66% by the same operator in 2014. If Togotcom ended up collapsing from the top of its prosperity, Togocel Even so far. It is not by chance that she acts as a crutch to raise up the dying parent.

After the various cement clinker processing units became the nursing mothers of tax havens to the still unrecognized beneficiaries, the state organized to fall into bankruptcy in the sale of phosphates picked up open gifts, the port is , him too, Become a whale offshore disputed by multinationals and a few petty national interests, Togocel is one of the few state-owned companies that are doing well. But the latest developments suggest that Cina Lawson no longer needs it. Despite being a dairy cow for the Department of the Digital Economy, the box has too much future to be left at the mercy of men uncertain about the interests of the Minister. It is necessary to demolish everything through new social reasons in order to invite new teams around the feast. It does not matter what it costs. Undoubtedly, as a result, my country became a robber stolen by robbers and sold in pieces to the receivers before a helpless owner.

For a while, There are those names which come back behind the societies condemned to fail. When Togot Telecom went into debt, the names of certain mistresses were cited. In banks today, some ladies, with their small personality acquired behind the curtains, have been so given debt that managers are wondering how they can get by. For the time being, they have blank checks wherever they go, in ministries, banks and state-owned companies. In the name of certain privileges, which are only conducive to societies with amoral public management, they are regarded as powerful women; This real republican disorder will survive as long as we refuse to impose a certain moralization of public life at the top, it is a political choice. "But every day for the thief, only one day for the owner," they will not understand, they are already blinded by the material, so they will fight around the carrion until the day when, like a hyena Approaching a corpse, the Togolese whistles the end of predation.

ABI-ALFA / Rendez-Vous N ° 314 of this 10-08-17