13.01.2021 Foreigners seduced by local opportunities On January 11, 2021, the official website of the Togolese Republic informs that 2,891 companies were created by foreigners in 2020. This is a little more than the previous year, despite the complicated economic and sanitary conditions. Regarding nationalities, there are Chinese, Guineans, Beninese, Nigerians. According to data provided by the Center for Business Formalities (CFE), most of these companies are located in the Maritime region. This is not surprising. This is where much of the economic activity is concentrated. www.republicoftogo.com/ 13.01.2021 Did you know... ... that there is cotton in Togo? Olam Internaitonal, a big agricultural group, recently acquired 51 percent of the national cotton company. In addition to cotton, Togo also grows coffee, cocoa and oil fruits for export. Sweet potatoes, cassava, maize, millet and sorghum, rice, beans, peanuts, sugar cane and a number of other crops and fruit plants are grown for domestic consumption. According to FAO (UN Food & Agriculture Organization) statistics, sweet potatoes, cocoa beans, maize and cassava are the main agricultural products. Togo is a member of COPAL - Cocoa Producers' Alliance and the Africa Rice Center. (source: liportal) 1 1.01.2021 Tribalism is gaining ground in Togo "May our attachment to national cohesion remain the guiding thread that will enable us to resolutely pursue our march towards shared prosperity in 2021," said Faure Gnassingbé in his New Year message to the people of Togo. Indeed, for several years now, the assertion of " national cohesion " has been very present in the official speeches of politicians. And with good reason, as everyone is aware that a divisive element is gaining more and more ground: identity-based withdrawal. This reflex is at the root of the compartmentalization of populations and of conflicts. But very few people dare to approach the subject clearly. read more 07.01.2021 A medical representative for Klologo On December 2, 2020, her training began: Rosaline Afi Amedome, an 18-year-old from Klologo, is going to a top- class state institute to train as a medical assistant. Kekeli Togo e.V. is covering the costs of the three-year diploma course. "We see this as an investment in our girls' project," says Michel Frenzel-Assih, chairman of the association. With the planned girls' project - scheduled to start this spring - Kekeli Togo wants to counteract the high number of early pregnancies in the global South; many teenage girls leave school prematurely because they are pregnant. The path to a professional life - and thus out of the poverty trap - is thus blocked for them. read more 01.01.2021 Happy New Year We from Kekeli Togo e.V. wish you a year of healing, health and joy, also in the name of the inhabitants of Klologo, the village we serve with our projects. Let us hope that values experienced as important in the pandemic, such as solidarity and cohesion, can be rescued into the "new normal". Together we can accomplish so much! We will continue to work hard to realize even more projects. We are happy if you accompany us in this process. And we are sincerely grateful for every donation that brings us closer to our goals. Our website provides information about our work and all projects: www.association-kekeli-togo.com . 01.01.2021 Tomorrow the world will not be a different one Claudia Mäder writes about New Year in Corona times in the NZZ on 12/31/2020: "[...] The waves that everyone sees clearly in front of them at the moment do not necessarily define the direction in which things will move in the medium or longer term. Just because everything seems to be rolling over in a brief moment does not mean that all structures will be permanently transformed and that later "nothing will be the same as before". And certainly epidemics don't have the power to upend everything underneath - that can be said from a historical perspective insofar as none of these diseases "epochalized" in the recent past and gave their name to an era." Kekeli Microfinance: a balance sheet worth seeing 01.01.2021 148 villagers have received micro-financial aid from our association so far, as Cobby Adjanor, who manages the micro-financial aid fund for Kekeli, reports. With the equivalent of EUR 60 as interest-free initial financing, the people in Klologo can build up their own livelihoods. They are advised in advance and now trained - because they are now small entrepreneurs. On 20 December, for example, the first training courses in management and organisation were held for 30 participants. Further courses will follow between the end of December and mid-January. With this project, Kekeli Togo is supporting the path out of poverty by helping people to help themselves. The fund started with a capital of 3,000,000 F CFA, which is equivalent to 4,500 EUR. The beneficiaries pay a one-time, low membership fee; the interest-free start-up aid is repayable in instalments after three to six months. In this way, the fund pot remains filled in the long run, and more people benefit from the support. It is in line with the principle that charitable funds are best invested when local people can use them as they see fit with regard to expanding or establishing their own economic existence. This is sustainable and guarantees lasting empowerment.