Togo Online Business Education. Administration. Economy. Politics. Culture. Religion. Media

Togo
Online Business Education. Economy. Politics. Culture. Religion. Media

Togo

Country Profile

Capital City: Lomé

Other Cities: Atakpamé, Kpalimé, Sokodé, Kara.

Local Time: UTC No UTC/GMT offset

Geography:
Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana.
Area: 56 785 sq km (21,925 sq miles).
Terrain: Gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes.
Border countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana

Climate: Tropical; hot throughout the year, humid in south; semiarid in north.

Government:
Type: Republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule.

People:
Nationality: noun (singular and plural) and adjective: Togolese.
Population: 5 000 000
Ethnic Groups: native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1%.
Religions: traditional African religions 51%, Christian 30%, Muslim 15%.
Languages: French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north).
Literacy: male: 75.4%, female: 46.9%

Business

Currency: CFA Franc (Communaute Financiere Africaine) (XOF)

Natural resources: Phosphates (main source of foreign exchange), limestone, marble, arable land.

Agriculture products: Coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish.

Industries: Phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement; handicrafts, textiles, beverages.

Exports partners: Burkina Faso16.6%, Ghana 15.4%, Netherlands 13%, Benin 9.6%, Mali 7.7% (2003)

Imports partners: France 21.1%, Netherlands 12.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 5.9%, Germany 4.6%, Italy 4.4%, South Africa 4.3%, China 4.1% (2003)

Internet Links

Official Sites of Togo

République Togolaise

Missions
Honorarkonsulat der Republik Togo in Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland und Hessen

Diplomatic Missions of Togo

Foreign Diplomatic Missions in Togo

Embassy of the United States of America Lome,Togo

Maps
Map of Togo

Carte détaillée du Togo

Introduction

Togo

Background: French Togoland became Togo in 1960. General Gnassingbe
EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, is Africa's longest-serving
head of state. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in
the early 1990s, the government continues to be dominated by President
EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained
power almost continually since 1967. In addition, Togo has come under
fire from international organizations for human rights abuses and is
plagued by political unrest. Most bilateral and multilateral aid to Togo
remains frozen.

Geography Togo

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin
and Ghana

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 1 10 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 56,785 sq km water: 2,400 sq km land: 54,385 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries: total: 1,647 km border countries: Benin 644 km,
Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km

Coastline: 56 km

Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 30 NM

Climate: tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north

Terrain: gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern
plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point:
Mont Agou 986 m

Natural resources: phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land

Land use: arable land: 41% permanent crops: 2% other: 57% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 70 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north
during winter; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues: deforestation attributable to
slash-and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; water pollution
presents health hazards and hinders the fishing industry; air pollution
increasing in urban areas

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the
selected agreements

Geography - note: the country's length allows it to stretch through
six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna

People Togo

Population: 5,285,501 note: estimates for this country explicitly take
into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result
in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 45.1% (male 1,195,052; female 1,187,014)
15-64 years: 52.4% (male 1,351,345; female 1,420,617) 65 years and over:
2.5% (male 56,270; female 75,203) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.48% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 36.11 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 69.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 56.07 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 5.14 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 5.98% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 130,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 14,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Togolese (singular and plural) adjective: Togolese

Ethnic groups: native African (37 tribes; largest and most important
are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1%

Religions: indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 29%, Muslim 20%

Languages: French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina
(the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled
Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total
population: 51.7% male: 67% female: 37% (1995 est.)

Government Togo

Country name: Togolese Republic conventional short form: Republique
Togolaise

Government type: republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Lome

Administrative divisions: 5 regions (regions, singular - region);
De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Centrale, Maritime

Independence: 27 April 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 April (1960)

Constitution: multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of
the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992

Legal system: French-based court system

Suffrage: NA years of age; universal adult

Executive branch: chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA
(since 14 April 1967) head of government: Prime Minister Agbeyome KODJO
(since 29 August 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the
president and the prime minister elections: president elected by popular
vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1998 (next to
be held NA 2003); prime minister appointed by the president election
results: Gnassingbe EYADEMA reelected president; percent of vote -
Gnassingbe EYADEMA 52.13%, Gilchrist OLYMPIO 34.12%, other 13.75%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are
elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held
21 March 1999 (next was tentatively scheduled for March 2002, however,
it was postponed with no new date given) note: Togo's main opposition
parties boycotted the election because of EYADEMA's alleged manipulation
of 1998 presidential polling; in March of 1999, opposition parties
entered into negotiations with the president over the establishment
of an independent electoral commission and a new round of legislative
elections election results: Judicial branch: Court of Appeal or Cour
d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Political parties and leaders: Action Committee for Renewal or CAR
[Yawovi AGBOYIBO]; Coordination des Forces Nouvelles or CFN [Joseph
KOFFIGOH]; Democratic Convention of African Peoples or CDPA [Leopold
GNININVI]; Party for Democracy and Renewal or PDR [Zarifou AYEVA];
Patriotic Pan-African Convergence or CPP [Edem KODJO]; Rally of the
Togolese People or RPT [President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA]; Union of
Forces for Change or UFC [Gilchrist OLYMPIO (in exile), Jean Pierre
FABRE, general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI
[Jacques AMOUZOU] note: Rally of the Togolese People or RPT, led by
President EYADEMA, was the only party until the formation of multiple
parties was legalized 12 April 1991

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA,
ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU,
OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Akoussoulelou BODJONA FAX: [1] (202) 232-3190 telephone: [1] (202)
234-4212 chancery: 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Karl HOFMANN embassy: Angle Rue Kouenou
B. P. 852, Lome telephone:
Flag description: five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom)
alternating with yellow; there is a white five-pointed star on a red
square in the upper hoist-side corner; uses the popular pan-African
colors of Ethiopia

Economy Togo

Economy - overview: This small sub-Saharan economy is heavily
dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which
provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Some basic foodstuffs
must still be imported. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate about
40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most significant cash
crop despite falling prices on the world market. Political unrest,
including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993,
jeopardized the reform program, shrunk the tax base, and disrupted vital
economic activity. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of the XOF currency
by 50% provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment.
In the industrial sector, phosphate mining is by far the most important
activity. Togo is the world's fourth largest producer, and geological
advantages keep production costs low. The recently privatized mining
operation, Office Togolais des Phosphates (OTP), is slowly recovering
from a steep fall in prices in the early 1990's, but continues to face
the challenge of tough foreign competition, exacerbated by weakening
demand. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. It
continues to expand its duty-free export-processing zone (EPZ), launched
in 1989, which has attracted enterprises from France, Italy, Scandinavia,
the US, India, and China and created jobs for Togolese nationals. The
government's decade-long effort, supported by the World Bank and the IMF,
to implement economic reform measures, encourage foreign investment, and
bring revenues in line with expenditures has stalled. Progress depends
on following through on privatization, increased openness in government
financial operations, progress towards legislative elections, and possible
downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in
place. Lack of large-scale foreign aid, deterioration of the financial
sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to
constrain economic growth. The takeover of the national power company
by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 should ease the energy crisis.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.6 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.2% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42% industry: 21% services:
37% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line: 32% (1989 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 1.74 million (1996)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30%
(1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $232 million expenditures: $252 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Industries: phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement;
handicrafts, textiles, beverages

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 97 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 97.94% other: 0%
(2000) hydro: 2.06% nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 525.21 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 435 million kWh note: electricity supplied by
Ghana (2000)

Agriculture - products: coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca),
corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish

Exports: $306 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities: cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa

Exports - partners: Benin 12%, Nigeria 9%, Belgium 5%, Ghana 4% (2000)

Imports: $420 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum
products

Imports - partners: Ghana 26%, France 11%, China 7%, Cote d'Ivoire 7%
(2000)

Debt - external: $1.5 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient: $201.1 million (1995)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible
authority is the Central Bank of the West African States

Currency code: XOF

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US
dollar - 741.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70
(1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the
XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Togo

Telephones - main lines in use: 25,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2,995 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: fair system based on a network of
microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and a mobile
cellular system domestic: microwave radio relay and open-wire lines for
conventional system; cellular system has capacity of 10,000 telephones
international: Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios: 940,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus two repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 73,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .tg

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2001)

Internet users: 20,000 (2001)

Transportation Togo

Railways: total: 525 km narrow gauge: 525 km 1.000-m gauge (2001)

Highways: total: 7,520 km paved: 2,376 km unpaved: 5,144 km (1996)

Waterways: 50 km (Mono river)

Ports and harbors: Kpeme, Lome

Merchant marine: total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,603
GRT/2,800 DWT ships by type: specialized tanker 1 note: includes a
foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Greece 1
(2002 est.)

Airports: 9 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m:
2 (2001)

Military Togo

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,220,758 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 640,280
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $21.9 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.8% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Togo

Disputes - international: Benin accuses Togo of moving boundary markers
and stationing troops in its territory

Illicit drugs: transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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