Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo

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Phosphate production by the SNPT in Togo

The Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo (SNPT) is a Togolese company based in Kpémé that mines calcium phosphate , a raw material for the fertilizer industry, in Togo . The SNPT was founded in May 2007, predecessor companies were the CTMB, which operated from 1957 to around 1980, the Togolese phosphate authority OTP operated by the Togolese state from around 1980 to 2002, and the privatized IFG-TG from 2002 to 2007. Phosphates were the most important for a long time Export goods to Togo.

Phosphate depletion in the 1960s

The phosphate deposits in the area of ​​the Togolese coast are mined in open-cast mining, the deposits are located in a strip of land several kilometers wide north of Lake Togo . The dismantling was prepared with a contract from 1957 and began in 1961 first by the CTMB ( Compagnie togolaise des mines du Bénin ), a majority French company and 47% owned by the American W. R. Grace and Company , whose shares are owned by the Togolese state up to a share of 20% of the share capital and 25% of the total capital, but only actually acquired about 1% of the shares. Calcium phosphate is the most important export commodity right from the start of production in 1961, the export volume quadrupled from 57,000 tons in 1961 to 802,000 tons in 1964. The phosphates are exported via a port built for this purpose in Kpéme a few kilometers west of the coastal town of Aného .

Nationalization, 1970s to 1990s

The prices for phosphates experienced a real boom due to the phosphate boom in the 1970s, caused by the demand for artificial fertilizers . In 1972 Togo was able to increase its stake in CTMB from the 2 it held at that time to 20%. Influenced by the Conference of the Non-Aligned States in 1973, in which the Togolese dictator Gnassingbé Eyadéma took part, and the rapidly rising phosphate price, the Togolese government's interest in further increasing the share rose, but negotiations with the CTMB failed because of the contractual provisions of 1957. On January 10, 1974, the Togolese government announced the unilateral increase in the state's share to 51%. As a result of a plane crash in Eyadéma near Sarakawa on February 2, 1974, phosphate mining was completely nationalized. The plane crash was transfigured as an attack by 'international high finance' against the background of the announced nationalization of phosphate mining. On the state side, the phosphate mining was coordinated by the Togolese phosphate authority OTP ( Office Togolais des Phosphates ), which took over the business of the CTMB until January 1980. The proceeds from the phosphate export were used to finance some controversial large-scale projects such as Niamtougou Airport or the Hôtel du 2 Février .

Falling phosphate prices at the end of the 1970s led to economic difficulties, but were somewhat offset by the preferential export to France at subsidized prices. In the mid-1990s, Togo was the fifth largest phosphate producer with an annual production volume of up to 2.89 million tons (1997), with phosphate exports accounting for 40% of total exports and 10% of GDP.

Privatization and the current situation

In the course of the privatization efforts from 1997 onwards, partial privatization of the phosphate production was sought; this only took place in 2002 with the takeover of the previously officially controlled operation by the IFG-TG ( International Fertilizer Group Togo ), in which a Tunisian consortium and the French company Brifco Ltd. the Togolese state was majority involved. Outdated machines and poor organization were the reason for a sharp decline in phosphate production up to 2006. With the establishment of the SNPT by resolution of the Council of Ministers on May 14, 2007, state-run operations were replaced; the SNPT began operations on August 1, 2008 and is currently employed over 2000 employees. The production volumes in 2006 and 2007 each amounted to around 1 million tons of rock phosphate, and the revenues from phosphate production of 13.4 billion CFA francs in 2006 corresponded to a share of 1.3% of the gross domestic product.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b U Tun Wai : The Economy of Togo . In: International Monetary Fund Staff Papers . November 1965, p.  409-467 .
  2. ^ A b Renate Helm: Political rule in Togo: The problem of democratization . In: Rainer Tetzlaff, Cord Jakobeit (Ed.): Democracy and Development . tape 56 . LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 978-3-8258-7785-9 , pp. 107-110 .
  3. ↑ Republique Togolaise: Sarakawa: une partie de l'histoire du pays. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved January 24, 2009 (French).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.republicoftogo.com  
  4. ↑ Présidence de la Republique Togo, Communiqué du Conseil des ministres: Société nouvelle des phosphates du Togo (SNPT). (No longer available online.) May 15, 2007, archived from the original on September 23, 2015 ; Retrieved September 27, 2013 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ebizguides.com
  5. ^ IMF Country Report No. 07/218 . International Monetary Fund, June 2007