Togo's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI-Togo) on Tuesday inaugurated its Grand Lomé regional delegation in Agoè-Nyivé 1, as part of a decentralization drive aimed at bringing services closer to businesses in the capital.

The new office is expected to provide companies with local access to administrative support, economic information, dispute resolution services and export assistance.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Minister of Economy and Strategic Oversight in charge of Commerce Badanam Patoki, CCI-Togo President Dr. José Kwassi Symenouh and Grand Lomé Governor Kassa Traoré.

The chamber said the initiative aims to reduce processing times, simplify procedures and offer a one-stop service center for businesses.

CCI-Togo said the new facility reflects the concentration of economic activity in Greater Lomé, which accounts for a significant share of the country's productive capacity. The delegation is intended to act as an interface between businesses and public administrations, particularly tax and customs authorities.

The opening "marks CCI-Togo's reform drive focused on efficiency, accessibility and performance," Dr. Symenouh said.

Authorities described the delegation as a tool to strengthen business competitiveness amid growing regional competition, particularly following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. They identified improvements to the business environment and access to information as key factors in supporting private-sector growth.

The office is also expected to serve a broad range of economic actors, from large companies to small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses transitioning from the informal to the formal sector. Authorities said particular attention would be given to young entrepreneurs and women, who are active in high-growth sectors.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Lomé has a new center promoting locally processed Togolese coffee. The facility, called “Maison du Café, Le Terroir,” was launched by the Coordination Committee for the Coffee and Cocoa Sectors (CCFCC), in partnership with the Inter-African Coffee Organization, and inaugurated on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

The center includes a showroom and retail space for coffee products, a tasting area and a training facility. Its aim is to boost domestic processing and encourage Togolese consumers to buy locally produced coffee.

“The center’s main objective is to strengthen the skills of people already involved in processing coffee for local consumption, so as to support the marketing and consumption of Togolese coffee,” said Anselme Gouthon, secretary general of the CCFCC.

The facility will also train baristas and coffee specialists to help promote Togolese coffee.

The project comes as producer countries seek to retain more value locally, while Togo’s coffee-cocoa sector remains heavily dependent on raw exports.

The Maison du Café plans to train 80 young baristas from several regions of the country. Participants will receive equipment and business support to develop local coffee distribution and retail activities. The initiative aims to create a network of small coffee businesses.

It also expands previous efforts, including coffee kiosks set up in Lomé and Kara and run by young entrepreneurs working through cooperatives. The project also receives support from the International Trade Center, which is involved in training stakeholders in the sector.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo and the West African Development Bank (BOAD) signed a 15.3 billion CFA franc ($27.7 million) financing agreement on Tuesday in Lomé to support vulnerable communities exposed to climate and disaster risks.

The funding will back the Project to Strengthen the Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in High Climate and Disaster Risk Zones (SAPO 48), after the initiative was approved in February 2025 by the board of the Green Climate Fund, for which BOAD serves as a regional implementing partner.

The agreement was signed by Togolese Finance and Budget Minister Georges Barcola and BOAD Vice President Abdoulaye Daffé. It marks the first standalone project from Togo to receive direct financing from the Green Climate Fund.

The project is expected to benefit nearly 9 million people, including around 1.3 million direct beneficiaries. Planned measures include strengthening climate information services, deploying a multi-hazard early warning system and setting up forecast-based emergency financing mechanisms.

Through the initiative, Togo aims to move from reacting to disasters to anticipating them.

“Anticipating means saving lives, preserving livelihoods and protecting public investments,” Civil Security and Protection Minister Calixte Madjoulba said.

Finance and Budget Minister Georges Essowè Barcola said the initiative would also help reduce future fiscal pressure linked to climate-related disasters.

“Investing in resilience also means protecting public finances and avoiding much higher costs for communities,” he said.

Togo is also preparing the Post-Climate Disaster Reconstruction and Community Support Project (PRECO-Togo), which is expected to receive financing from the Green Climate Fund through BOAD.

Esaïe Edoh

In the space of twelve months, the share of non-performing loans in Togo’s banking sector has nearly doubled, according to data published in the Central Bank of West African States’ (BCEAO) March 2026 monthly bulletin.

In February 2026, the gross non-performing loan ratio at Togolese banks reached 13.5%, up from 7.2% a year earlier. In absolute terms, non-performing loans rose from 171.5 billion CFA francs in February 2025 to 318.2 billion a year later, an increase of 85% over the period. That marks the sharpest deterioration recorded across the WAEMU zone on this indicator.

The net NPL ratio, which measures banks’ remaining exposure after provisions, stood at 8.2%, compared with 2.7% in February 2025. More troubling still, the provisioning coverage ratio for doubtful loans fell sharply, dropping from 63.9% to 42.3% in one year. Togolese banks are setting aside proportionally less to absorb potential losses.

“Such a rapid deterioration generally reflects a combination of unanticipated sectoral shocks and an insufficiently forward-looking provisioning policy,” a banking analyst said.

The deterioration is unfolding even as Togolese banks remain highly liquid. Their reserves at the BCEAO reached 166.3 billion CFA francs in March 2026, against required reserves of just 74.2 billion. But faced with weakening asset quality, banks are favouring caution over credit expansion.

Sectoral data offer some clues to the deterioration. Outstanding short-term lending to Togo’s trade sector fell from 292 billion CFA francs in November 2025 to 148 billion in January 2026, a contraction of nearly 50% in two months. At the same time, banks are charging an average lending rate of 7.51%, among the highest in the WAEMU zone and well above the 6.40% charged in Côte d'Ivoire. Costly credit, becoming increasingly scarce, is being extended to already-fragile borrowers, increasing the risk of arrears.

Adding to the pressure, banks hold 623.5 billion CFA francs in exposure to Togolese government debt, limiting the funds available for private-sector lending.

The BCEAO is expected to publish its next monthly data in the coming weeks. The figures will show whether the deterioration in Togo’s loan portfolio has stabilised or continues to worsen.

Fiacre Kakpo

Ecobank Togo reported record banking revenue for 2025 and double-digit loan growth, but higher taxes and a regulatory fine weighed on profit. The board nonetheless proposed a sharply higher dividend.

The Togolese subsidiary of pan-African group Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) posted banking revenue of 45.7 billion CFA francs (69.7 million euros) in 2025, up 9.9% year-on-year, according to its annual report presented last week at the annual general meeting in Lomé. Net profit fell 9.5% to 14.3 billion CFA francs (21.8 million euros).

The bank said the drop in profit reflected a higher tax charge in 2025, unlike in 2024, when it benefited from a one-off tax gain following an audit by the Togolese Revenue Authority (OTR).

On the commercial side, the bank's performance was robust. Net loans to customers rose 16.8% to 373 billion CFA francs (568 million euros), while deposits grew 12.1% to 588.8 billion CFA francs (898 million euros). Total assets reached 724.2 billion CFA francs (1.1 billion euros), up 5%.

"The Togolese economy demonstrated resilience in 2025," board chairwoman Séna Elda Afiwa Kpotsra wrote in her message to shareholders dated April 29, 2026, adding that banking activity had "remained strong in a demanding regulatory and competitive environment."

Despite the fall in net profit, the board proposed a dividend of 40,000 CFA francs per share, up 60% from the 25,000 CFA francs paid for 2024, representing a total payout of 8 billion CFA francs (12.2 million euros).

The year was also marked by a 200-million-CFA-franc (305,000 euros) regulatory fine imposed by the WAEMU Banking Commission following a thematic review of the bank's external financial transactions. Ecobank Togo said it had launched a corrective action plan in response.

Separately, the bank said it had been named "Best Bank in Togo 2025" by U.S. magazine Global Finance as part of its annual World's Best Banks Awards.

The bank's headcount remained stable at 335 employees, operating across 18 branches and 86 ATMs nationwide.

The BCEAO cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% in June 2025, then again to 3.00% in March 2026. The bank said it expected the monetary easing to have a favorable effect on its refinancing conditions this year.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

A Chinese-funded borehole construction project in Togo's Plateaux region had completed 260 of its 305 planned water points as of April 30, 2026, according to a field monitoring mission.

The monitoring team, made up of Chinese and Togolese technical experts, said the remaining 45 boreholes are in the final stages of completion. Launched in December 2024 for a two-year period, the project is progressing at a strong pace.

“This tour allows us to observe significant progress. We remain committed to delivering reliable, long-lasting infrastructure that meets the expectations of local communities,” said Huang Xianzhou, head of the rural hydraulics project in Togo. He said the works would be fully completed by June 2026.

The boreholes completed so far are spread across nine prefectures in the Plateaux region: Anié, Est-Mono, Haho, Moyen-Mono, Ogou, Amou, Kloto, Kpélé and Agou.

The project is part of broader efforts to expand access to drinking water in rural areas. It is being implemented as part of Sino-Togolese cooperation, aimed at sustainably improving living conditions in local communities.

Esaïe Edoh

A delegation from the Valais-Châteauneuf School of Agriculture in Switzerland visited the National Agricultural Training Institute (INFA) in Tové, Kpalimé, in late April, as part of a technical partnership established in April 2025.

The delegation was led by school director Raphaël Gaillard. The partnership is supported by Movetia, Switzerland’s national agency for education exchanges and mobility.

Discussions focused on strengthening agricultural skills and adapting curricula. They covered plant protection, soil management and fertility, water management, vegetable farming, and agricultural policies and markets.

The Swiss delegation met with INFA Director General Dr. Bamazi Bitang. They toured teaching facilities and training areas, attended classes, met students, and held meetings with teaching staff.

According to officials, the aim is to better align teaching methods with field conditions. Joint working groups have been set up to structure exchanges and address agricultural challenges, particularly those linked to climate and water.

The cooperation is based on mutual learning and aims to improve training quality and student employability.

Founded in 1949, INFA Tové offers programs from vocational baccalaureate to bachelor’s level.

Togo has extended the deadline for submitting financial statements via the electronic platform of the one-stop filing system (GUDEF).

The Togolese Revenue Authority (OTR) said on Monday that companies, excluding insurers and reinsurers, now have until May 10, 2026, to comply.

The original deadline was April 30. The 10-day extension aims to give companies, particularly those that are late, additional time to meet regulatory requirements and adapt to the digital platform used for paperless submission of financial statements.

During this exceptional period, late filing penalties will be waived, the OTR said. However, penalties related to non-declaration or non-payment of tax liabilities remain due by the original deadline.

Filing financial statements is a legal obligation for companies, which must submit their accounts annually to the tax authorities. These include the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and notes to the accounts.

Esaïe Edoh

Unions representing workers in Togo's financial sector used May Day celebrations to press employers to improve employment conditions, calling for an end to temporary contracts they described as precarious and unsuited to the sector’s needs.

The event, themed around social dialogue, brought together employees and employers to address challenges facing the banking and insurance sectors. A march took place in the capital, ending at the headquarters of BIA-Togo, where unions presented their demands.

Awoula Yati Baba, secretary general of SYNBANK, the union representing employees and executives in Togo's banks, financial institutions and insurance companies, said the growing use of temporary contracts weakens workers and poses risks to data confidentiality. He called for reforms to stabilize employment and strengthen worker protections.

The unions also called for the creation of a capacity-building fund and better enforcement of universal health insurance rules. Those measures would help improve working conditions and develop employees’ skills, according to union representatives.

SYNASSUR, the insurance sector union, stressed the need for stronger ethics and professionalism to limit the risks of fraud and conflicts of interest.

The employers' association, APBEF, which represents banks and financial institutions in Togo, cited several challenges, including pressure from global inflation, rising cybercrime and constraints on lending.

R.E.D