Togolese Prime Minister receives President of EBID
The President of EBID, Dr. George Donkor was received in audience by His Excellency, the Prime Minister of the Togolese Republic, Mr. Selom Komi Klassou, on Friday, July 10 2020.
The meeting was both a courtesy call and solidarity visit from the new President of EBID which provided him with the opportunity to express the Bank’s appreciation to the Government of Togo for the unflinching support it extends to the institution. It also enabled the two parties discuss immediate areas of cooperation capable of mitigating the impact the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic had on the economy of Togo and other ECOWAS Member States.
After expressing the gratitude of the Bank to the Government of Togo for being a conscientious stakeholder and an attentive host country to EBID, Dr. Donkor informed the Prime Minister that in April the Bank contributed one and half million United States dollars ($1.5m) to support measures undertaken by Member States to contain the pandemic, including the donation of more than twelve million francs (FCFA12m) worth of preventive kits to Togo.
Furthermore, EBID was acting in concert with Member States to identify their priority and areas within the framework of cushioning the impact of the unexpected pandemic especially as the 5% growth rate initially projected prior to the crisis now hovered around 3%. In this regard, one of the mitigating measures already applied by the Bank was to defer loan repayments schedules to December, while exploring avenues for obtaining concessionary loans.
Dr. Donkor also pointed out that Togolese private and public sector projects continue to receive considerable strategic support from EBID, and mentioned the financing of the Lomé Port Authority (Port Autonome de Lomé) project, the installation and operation of an intravenous fluids Factory at Aveta by DO PHARMA, the renovation of Hotel 2 Fevrier among others.
Responding to the remarks by the President of EBID the Prime Minister said that by virtue of the pivotal role that the Togolese Republic played in the creation of ECOWAS, all institutions of the Community were entitled to support from the country. He also informed Dr. Donkor that the country’s National Development Programme aimed at making the country a top class logistics hub and a business centre of reference in the region, developing poles of agricultural processing, manufacturing and mining, in addition to consolidating social development and boosting inclusion mechanisms, was affected by fall outs of the Covid-19 crisis. Therefore, the Government was considering enacting a new corrective financial law. The Prime Minister also informed the President of EBID that the Togo will be forwarding many agriculture projects to the Bank for financing because of the need to produce enough food for consumption, processing and surplus for trade.
