The Council of Ministers met on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the Palace of the Presidency of the Republic, under the chairmanship of His Excellency, Mr. Faure Essozimna GNASSINGBE, President of the Republic.
The Council has:
- adopted a bill and two (2) decrees;
- followed four (4) communications and various;
Under the bill
The bill passed by the council, authorizes the ratification of the statutes of the financial company called "Africa 50 - project financing" and "Africa 50 - development of projects", adopted on July 29, 2015 in Casablanca .
Created at the initiative of twenty-two (22) African countries including Togo and three (3) African financial institutions namely Bank Al-Maghrib, the African Development Bank (AfDB), "Africa 50 - Project Financing" aims to mobilize investors' long-term savings in commercially viable African infrastructure projects.
It is a company that relies on the financial commitment of African countries to attract institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance companies as well as other sources of financing.
Its ratification will enable Togo to mobilize the necessary financing for the implementation of major development projects in the energy, transport, water or telecommunications sectors.
Under the decrees
The first decree adopted by the Council of Ministers, protects the road assets and related equipment.
The protection of the national road assets is a necessity for the durability of the infrastructures realized at the cost of billions of francs but also for the safety of all the road users.
Indeed, the infrastructures carried out often undergo voluntary or involuntary destruction on the part of the users and the population.
To reduce the ever-increasing number of such destructions and mitigate their negative impact on public finances, the government initiated the project to protect national road assets and related equipment.
By decree, only vehicles with technical characteristics declared compliant and respecting the legal limit load and the gauge are authorized to make use of the roads open to traffic.
At the same time, the decree provides for road weighing with specific equipment, fixes the technical control of vehicles and guarantees the integrity of the public road.
The adopted decree considers, as such, as offenses inter alia:
- exceeding the total weight allowed under load;
- refusal to drive the vehicle at weighing;
- physical destruction of road assets;
- refusal to carry out the technical inspection of the vehicle;
- the intentional degradation of the public road whatever the circumstances (voluntary or involuntary).
In order to complete the measures for the protection of the road assets and related equipment, the decree admits that: "any person who causes damage to road equipment is obliged to assume the repairs".
The second decree adopted by the Council, regulates transactions and electronic services in Togo.
The decree regulating electronic transactions and services in Togo implements Law No. 2017-007 of 22 June 2017 on electronic transactions and deals with the essential issues identified in the law. These are:
- conditions for the legal recognition of certificates and electronic signatures from third countries;
- provisions relating to the signature and the electronic certificate;
- the conditions of practice of trusted service providers;
- information to be made available to customers on those who carry out an e-commerce activity;
- information to be made available to the public by publishers of online public communication services;
- data to identify anyone who has contributed to the creation of the content or content of services providers;
- the certification authority.
The adoption of this decree allows Togo to strengthen its legal arsenal for electronic transactions.
In the context of communications
The first communication listened to by the council concerns the public administration's professional messaging project.
The will of the Head of State to make Togo, a country in which the public administrations and the institutions of the Republic deliver a quality service to the citizens, led to the process of modernization and reform of the public administration.
For example, at the initiative of the Ministry of Posts and the Digital Economy, in a pilot phase, a limited number of email accounts were created on the Google Suite platform using Gmail and other services. collaborative. These accounts have been created, especially for ministers, councilors, private secretaries and the diplomatic corps.
The billing mechanism for this solution is an annual fee per account created, plus other fees such as support and driver assistance for change. Hosting messaging is then done on outsourced servers (cloud) that do not guarantee confidentiality but at a high cost.
With the ever increasing demand and cost factor, the extension of this professional messaging service to all public administrations and institutions of the Republic requires technical clauses that meet international standards and standards in this area.
Thus, the LINAGORA company was selected for the installation and commissioning of the professional email solution through a bidding process, just like the company Comtel Technologies which will provide the hardware corresponding to the servers and virtualization tools.
For good management, it is planned to create accounts in stages according to the needs of each department and institutional department. So at startup, twenty thousand (20,000) accounts will be created.
The second communication heard by the council is related to the regulation of social networks.
The proliferation of hate speech and fake news on the internet and more specifically on social networks, is today a global concern and a serious threat, both for the stability of states and for cohesion. and social peace. This observation inevitably raises the question of the relevance and effectiveness of the preventive and repressive measures put in place by the public authorities.
As such, it must be remembered that common law texts are applicable to digital matters. On the civil level, it is thus possible to engage the responsibility of Internet users for, for example, a violation of the right of everyone to respect for his private life. In addition, common criminal offenses such as insult, defamation, or incitement to hatred can be retained.
But these "case by case" responses are not enough. Exclusively judicial, they do not allow to regulate efficiently and quickly all the content in circulation. That is why other solutions must be retained.
These include:
- training in digital culture through the implementation of education and prevention policies;
- facilitate the collection of illegal content through the creation of reporting procedures;
- encourage self-regulation through the development of a relationship of trust with information technology companies;
- strengthen the law enforcement component by adopting new legislation.
Beyond this pre-existing regulation, it would be desirable to strengthen the regulation of social networks including the establishment of an awareness campaign on their use, the signing of a code of conduct with representatives structures such as Facebook and Twitter, the adoption of a law on false information and the creation of a reporting platform.
The Council of Ministers took the opportunity to recall that everyone at his level must bear in mind the national interest for our country in the use of social networks, as their inappropriate use negatively impacts the image of the country contributing to remove investors, discourage the entrepreneurial spirit, which can have repercussions on job creations and wealth.
The use of social networks must be done in the guarantee of social peace and respect for public and individual freedoms.
The third communication presented to the Council relates to the Presidential Youth Forum.
The challenges of the fight against unemployment and underemployment, access to training adapted to the potential of the country and to the potential of young people, and the reproductive and sexual health of young people, recall the enormous challenges ahead. of the youth. Therefore, meeting these challenges requires innovative, pragmatic and efficient measures that draw on the ingenuity and creativity of young people and in connection with the emergence of 2030 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Presidential Youth Forum will provide solutions to the empowerment and economic inclusion of young people, following the example of the President of the Republic's decision to allocate 20% of public procurement to young people and women.
In this dynamic, the Head of State has set up a platform for exchanges with young people, as announced during his address to the nation on January 3, 2018. On his very high instructions, the launch of the Presidential Forum Youth Foundation (FPJ) was effectively operated on 05 March 2018 by the establishment of the National Organizing Committee and the technical committees composed mainly of young people.
The FPJ is a great opportunity for a structured, constructive and open dialogue between 3000 young people from various socio-professional categories. It presents itself as a platform for exchange and reflection on the ambitions of young people for themselves and for the country, the challenges they still face and the proposals for a better empowerment and a more active and effective participation in the construction of the country. It also provides an opportunity for young people to make a diagnosis and capitalize on the lessons learned from the implementation of different strategies, programs and projects aimed at promoting youth and other flagship programs of the state to make recommendations for an ambitious partnership with and in favor of Togolese youth.
The Forum scheduled for the first fortnight of April, brings together about 3000 young participants: young leaders of associations, artists, entrepreneurs, unemployed, students, traders, farmers, technical and financial partners, private sector actors, experts, researchers State technical services executives, local development actors, representatives of NGOs and civil society organizations involved in youth development issues, job creation, peace promotion, and so on.
The President of the Republic invites all Togolese youth to become actively involved as well as the actors of the public and private sectors and those of the civil society to join this initiative which opens a new era in the partnership between the State and youth of our country.
The fourth and last communication listened to by the council, relates to the elaboration of the National Development Plan (PND).
At the end of the implementation of the Accelerated Growth and Employment Promotion Strategy (SCAPE), which expired at the end of 2017, Togo has chosen to pursue its economic and social development policy. in the medium term through a national development plan that draws its foundations from the Head of State's project of society, as set out in the general policy declaration, as well as Togo's commitments at the community, continental and international levels in connection with the vision 2020 of ECOWAS, the 2063 agenda of the African Union and the SDGs by 2030.
A high-level seminar organized in Kara in July 2017, made it possible to define three main axes of the PND namely:
- Axis 1: set up a logistics hub of excellence for international trade accompanying the development of a first-rate business center;
- Axis 2: creating jobs through the development of agricultural processing, manufacturing and extractive industries poles;
- Axis 3: consolidate social development and strengthen inclusion mechanisms.
The PND will be the subject of an upcoming national validation and formal approval by the Council of Ministers before the end of April 2018 for a start of implementation at the end of June 2018.
Under the various
With regard to all development projects and programs aimed at improving the living conditions of the population, the Prime Minister urged each minister to make every effort to increase the absorption capacity of investment and investment loans. to become more involved in their management.
The Minister of Economy and Finance reported to the board of the joint mission with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport to the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
This joint mission follows the cancellation of three credits granted by the IDB that had not been consumed. The IDB decision targeted several countries including TOGO.
In order to preserve the quality of its outstanding portfolio and maintain its AAA rating, the IDB had canceled before the end of 2017, all loans granted and not consumed.
Following the substantive work done with the Bank's technical services and the arguments developed by the ministers, the President of the IDB promised to re-examine with great care the request to reconsider this decision.
In the margins of the works, the Minister of Finance signed two new loan agreements with the IDB, amounting to 11 billion CFA francs, the objective of which is to support microfinance in order to contribute to the improvement of finance. inclusive, poverty reduction and building resilience of beneficiaries to socio-economic and climate Nearly 60,000 people will be involved in the implementation of this project.
The President of the IDB has also pledged to further support our country in its efforts for shared and inclusive economic development.
The minister of grassroots development, crafts, youth and youth employment, the President of the Republic's Chief of Staff, also reported to the Council on the participation of the President of the Republic in the conference on the International Solar Alliance (ASI) in India.
This conference aimed to focus on the baptismal font of the International Solar Alliance, a Franco-Indian initiative launched at COP 21 in Paris.
At the end of the work, it appears that Togo is one of the 20 signatory countries of this alliance, which allowed him to benefit from an envelope of a value of forty million dollars or nearly 20 billion CFA francs .
This envelope will be dedicated to the rural electrification program with solar kits.
In addition to this activity, the Minister of Health signed a memorandum on the construction in our country of a referral hospital funded by the Indian government.
Done at Lomé on 21 March 2018
The Council of Ministers
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