(Ecofin Agency) - According to the conclusions of the survey of macroeconomic forecasts achieved in Togo for the fiscal year 2014, the banking sector contributed more weakly to private investment in the country. Thus, in spite of a clear improvement in production indicators, the document mentions that the majority of small enterprises still face financial constraints.

“Bank financing is weak and this weakness is an obstacle to the development of private enterprise in Togo (...) The results show that in 2014, investment expenditure was financed by equity capital to the tune of 51.9% while the contribution to investment funding by banks based in the country only represented 38.8%”, Badawasso Gnaro, the General Secretary in the Togolese Ministry of Finance, disclosed.

The information may appear to be paradoxical when one knows that the country hosts the headquarters of the Pan-African bank most active on the African continent (Ecobank Transnational Incorporated), and another financial group well represented in West Africa (Oragroup). On the other hand, the ratio between the volume of deposits in the banks, and the Gross Domestic Product comes up at 38.5%, a ratio above the average fixed by the West African Economic and Monetary Union - UEMOA (25%).

The environment however is hardly competitive and three banks out of the 11 operating in the country, share the market for banking services. Even if the average bank rates are in line with UEMOA, they are still very high and start from a minimum of 11% up to a maximum of 15%.

The support of the banks to the Togolese economy should however improve in 2015. According to monetary statistics from the Central Bank of West African States, loans granted to the economy by the banks have an average growth of 10% during the first six months of the year. Another positive point: borrowing rates of bank loans have shrunk by 5.9% during the second quarter of 2015, compared to the same period in the previous year. However the state continues to be the principal borrower, not the best situation for financial stability.