Togo Ranks as West Africa’s Top Business Climate Performer in B-Ready 2025

Economic governance

Saturday, 10 January 2026 03:54

Togo Ranks as West Africa’s Top Business Climate Performer in B-Ready 2025

Togo retains its position as West Africa’s top-ranked economy for business climate in the B-Ready 2025 report with a score of 61.52.
The country ranks third in sub-Saharan Africa, behind Rwanda and Mauritius.
Strong performance reflects regulatory reforms, while trade and competition remain weaker areas.

Togo confirmed its reform momentum by retaining its position as West Africa’s top performer in the Business Ready (B-Ready) 2025 ranking of business climates.

The country also ranked third in sub-Saharan Africa with an overall score of 61.52 points, according to the latest edition of the report published in late December 2025.

In the inaugural 2024 edition of B-Ready, which replaced the former Doing Business report suspended after governance irregularities, Togo had already secured first place in West Africa.

In the new ranking, Togo outperformed Benin and Ghana in West Africa. Benin ranked second with 60.2 points, while Ghana ranked third with 56.8 points. In sub-Saharan Africa, Togo ranked behind Rwanda and Mauritius, which recorded scores of 67.9 points and 63.2 points, respectively.

A New Framework for Business Climate Assessment

The B-Ready ranking relies on a survey of 58,000 companies and 5,000 experts across 101 economies. The assessment covers ten key stages of a firm’s life cycle, from business entry to insolvency.

The framework rests on three pillars: regulatory framework, quality of public services, and operational efficiency. To better reflect real business experience, the methodology combines legal indicators with practice-based indicators.

Togo recorded a score of 66.26 points on the regulatory framework pillar, which stood close to the average of assessed countries. The country posted an intermediate score on public service quality.

Togo recorded 57.38 points on operational efficiency, which highlighted remaining gaps in compliance costs and administrative delays.

Uneven Sectoral Performance

By category, Togo stood out on the business entry indicator with a score of 85.77 points. This performance aligned with reforms that simplified company registration procedures.

The report also showed solid results in employment, financial services, and insolvency indicators. However, international trade and competition indicators lagged behind other areas.

At the continental level, Rwanda retained first place in the B-Ready 2025 ranking. Morocco ranked second, while Mauritius ranked third. Togo placed fourth overall in Africa.

Before the suspension of Doing Business, Togo had already ranked among Africa’s most reform-oriented economies. The country recorded significant progress between 2018 and 2020.

This article was initially published in French by R.E.D

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

After moving from the 133rd to 127th place under the 2020 Doing Business’ construction permit index, Togo intends to reiterate this feat in the coming edition of the global ranking. To this end, it has introduced this year multiple reforms.

GETTING ELECTRICITY (more info)

Over the past two years, Togo’s ranking under the Doing Business’ Getting electricity and water indicator has increased consistently. Owing this performance to multiple reforms aimed at making it easier for businesses to access power and water, Lomé plans to introduce even more reforms this year to keep up its improvements.

REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.