Togo: Cina Lawson announces "restructuring" of Togo Telecom and Togocel

(Agence Ecofin) - On 1st September 2015, the Minister of Posts and Digital Economy, Cina Lawson, officially launched the first ever national ICT applications creation competition. During the press conference, she announced a "reorganisation" of the national telecommunications operator Togo Telecom and its mobile arm, Togocel. Acknowledging the difficulties faced by both companies on the Togolese telecom market, she explained that they stem from a poor functional policy.

"We are in a situation where most often Togo Telecom is in competition with Togocel and vice versa. This kind of rivalry is detrimental to good service supply (...) each company must make good use of the advantages of the other. It is not about merging (...) The transformation we are talking about is meant to meet the clients' demands", explained Cina Lawson.

For three years now, the quality of telecom services offered by Togo Telecom and Togocel has been criticised by consumers. Both companies, though having priority on the fibre optic infrastructure deployed in the country, are not making the most of this advantage to offer better quality services.