Togo is strongly committed to fighting deforestation. That is why the country regulates the exploitation of natural wood on its soil and that is also why a pass is required to transport natural wood or teak wood across the territory.   

This special authorization is delivered by the Directorate of Forest Resources (DRF). Prices range from CFAF20 to 650 per log depending on the wood type. 

Usually, the pass is issued within three days for simple woods and four for teak wood. The document, which is for personal use only, is valid for 72 hours only. 

Eligible persons: 

Any interested party 

Cost of the procedure: 

• Raw or trunk of teakwood: CFAF500 per unit

• Teak poles: CFAF150 per unit

• Teak perch and post: CFAF20 per unit

• Unpolished teakwood: CFAF100 per unit

• Whitewood plank: CFAF250 per unit

• Chevron : CFAF250 per unit 

• Redwood plank: CFAF650 per unit 

Processing time:

• Three (03) days for natural wood’s transit pass

• Four (04) days for the first application for a teak transit pass. After the first application, the processing time becomes two (02) days for subsequent requests. 

Validity: 72 hours

Where to submit the request?

Name of the office: Directorate of Forest Resources

Address : 52, QAD Kozah road, 01 B.P. 355, Lomé, Togo

Contacts : 22 21 46 04/ 22 21 40 29

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web portal: www.environnement.gouv.tg

Required documentation:

• A valid cutting permit

• A transit pass request addressed to the director of forest resources

Like several countries worldwide, Togo launched various programs to develop sustainable cooking technologies. Regardless, all over the country, people still use firewood and charcoal every day, due to cultural and lifestyle reasons.

To regulate the sector, authorities introduced a pass for the transportation of charcoal and firewood nationwide. To obtain the pass, actors must submit a request to the regional delegations and prefectural agencies of the Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources. If required conditions are met, the pass is issued immediately. It costs CFAF100 and CFAF200 respectively for 100 and 200 kilograms of charcoal. As for firewood, the cost is CFA100 per stere.

Eligible persons:

Any interested party.

Cost of the procedure:

• Bag of 100 kilograms of charcoal: CFAF100

• Bag of 200 kilograms of charcoal: CFAF200

• Firewood: CFAF200 per stere

Processing time:

Pass issued immediately if required conditions are met.

Where to submit the request?

Name of the office: Regional delegations and prefectural agencies of the Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources

Address: Depends on the applicant’s geographic location 

Contact: 22 21 46 04/ 22 21 40 29

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web portal : www.environnement.gouv.tg

Required documentation:

None

To protect the environment and fight global uncontrolled deforestation, wood imports are regulated by several countries, including Togo. 

To import wood into the country, a permit is required. The said authorization allows the transportation of forest resources from one country to another. Applications are to be submitted to the Directorate of Forest Resources (DRF). The free permit is usually issued within two months, for a validity period of two months as well.  

Eligible persons: 

Anyone

Cost of the procedure :

Free

Processing time: 

 Two (02) months

Where to submit the request? 

Name of the office: Directorate of Forest Resources:

Address : 52, QAD Kozah road, 01 B.P. 355, Lomé, Togo.

Contacts : 22 21 46 04/ 22 21 40 29

E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web portal: www.environnement.gouv.tg

Required documentation:

• A stamped request addressed to the Minister of Environment and Forest Resource

• Certified copy of the economic operator’s card

• Certified copy of the tax certificate

• Certified copy of the company card

• Contract binding the supplier and the importer

Additional information

Contacts of the regional delegations:

• Maritime Regional delegation in Tsévié : +228 98 33 77 53

• Plateaux regional delegation in Notsé : +228 99 17 60 39

• Centrale regional delegation in Sokodé : +228 98 61 67 70

• Kara regional delegation : +228 99 10 88 46

• Savane regional delegation in Mango : +228 99 94 07 24

Like many countries committed to fighting climate change, Togo has a support mechanism to encourage reforestation. 

Those interested in benefiting from this mechanism can reach out to the Office of Forest Development and Exploitation (ODEF) for technical assistance when they plan to plant trees in desired spots. For the development of the soil, the cost varies between CFAF200,000 and 300,000 while reforestation varies between CFAF300,000 and 500,000 depending on the desired plant species. For silvicultural studies, the cost is CFAF11,800 per application. 

The time to process the request depends on the area covered by the project and the extent of preliminary works. 

Once approved,  the applicant receives technical support all through the period specified in the contract signed with Togolese authorities. 

To date, the mechanism has contributed to the reforestation of thousands of hectares throughout the country. 

Eligible persons: 

Anyone

Cost of the procedure:

• Reforestation: CFAF 300,000 to 500,000 per hectare depending on the plant species desired and the extent of the works needed

• Development: CFAF200,000 to 300,000 per hectare depending on the plant species and the extent of preliminary works

• Silvicultural studies: CFAF11 800 per application

Processing time: 

Depends on the nature and extent of preliminary works, as well as the accessibility of the land.

Where to submit the request?

Name of the office: Office of Forest Development and Exploitation (ODEF)

Address : 20 Evala Road, agbalépédogan, B.P. 334, Lomé, Togo.

Contact : 22 51 42 17

E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web Portal: www.odef.tg

Required documentation:

A request addressed to the director of the ODEF. It must include the detailed address of the project, the nature of the work, the size of the land to be reforested, the land’s documents, the plant species to be used or grown, the objective of the project, and the contract duration.

Yesterday, the Togolese Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration, and Togolese Abroad held its annual Excellence Awards. Launched in 2014 by Minister Robert Dussey, the event celebrates the ministry's most excellent staff members.  

This year, Ibrahim Amadou, Afi Délali Atoko, and Joseph Awoussou won respectively the Award for Excellence, Best Secretary Award, and Best Staff Award. Amadou is a research officer at the Directorate of International Cooperation (DCI), Atoko is a secretary at the Directorate of Administrative and Financial Affairs (DAAF), and Awoussou is a maintenance agent.

According to Minister Dussey, the awards are given to “celebrate the ministry’s workers who, throughout the year, have shown commitment and self-sacrifice at work. This is to encourage everyone to give their best to make the Togolese diplomacy shine in the eyes of the world.”

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) raised over $2.5 million (around CFA1.4 billion) from its partners to fund 29 projects in Togo.

“Despite the constraints related to the pandemic, the year 2021 was marked by a 100% implementation rate of Core resources ($6,251,894) and the mobilization of more than $2.5 million from partners to implement 29 projects and programs,” said Mactar Fall, deputy resident representative of UNDP Togo. Fall said this yesterday at the opening of the annual review of the institution’s activities in the country.

The High Committee in charge of the Agenda for the Decade of African Roots and the African Diaspora held its third meeting last Monday. On this occasion, all 14 member countries of the initiative adopted the agenda covering the projects that will be implemented in the first years of the decade.

According to the plan, in the first year of the decade, a museum dedicated to African memories will be built. The same year, an Economic Forum for the Diaspora and Afro Descendants should be organized. Suggested by Togo, these projects align with already-launched initiatives or initiatives that are yet to be implemented by the African Union Commission, via the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO). 

Robert Dussey, Togo’s foreign affairs minister, chaired the meeting. After affirming that the decade would be materialized “only through concrete projects,” Dussey urged the High Committee’s members to “strongly mobilize toward these achievements for the development of our continent.”

A Togo-led initiative, the decade of African roots and the African diaspora aims mainly to “make the African diaspora key actors of Africa’s development.” 

Let it be recalled that last September, Morocco said it would support the initiative with $200,000. This was during the High Committee’s second meeting.

Esaïe Edoh

Effective January 1, 2022, new parents will be able to get their children’s birth certificates for free. The news was confirmed yesterday by the Togolese Council of Ministers. 

“The council examined a (last) bill establishing the free issue of birth certificates in Togo,” a report from the council reads. This measure, the document adds, “aims to ensure the systematic registration of births in civil status centers all over the country and to improve citizens’ social protection.”

The measure was announced in February 2020 by President Faure Gnassingbé. At the time, the Togolese leader had declared: “I would like to tell parents that henceforth, they can get birth certificates for their children freely. To tackle the issue of identification, we will, starting this year, initiate a program that will make sure every Togolese gets an ID number that will play the same role as ID cards.”

Additionally, the government believes that the bill should boost inclusion and social harmony, in line with the first pillar of its development roadmap.

Ecobank Togo, a subsidiary of the eponymous pan-African banking group, was named best bank of the year by The Banker, a magazine released by Financial Times. The bank received the title during the Banker Awards 2021 held earlier this month. 

According to the US magazine, this is the second consecutive year that Ecobank Togo gets the title - an achievement that it owes to its “increased adhesion to fintech culture” and the digitalization of its services. 

In June this year, Ecobank Togo partnered with Semoa, a local fintech that launched a WhatsApp-based banking service with the help of Ecobank’s Xpress Account API. 

"We are continuously investing to automate transactions and provide state-of-the-art digital solutions to our customers," said Souleymane Touré, managing director of Ecobank Togo. 

In Togo, Ecobank also launched its Ellevate product aimed at empowering women across the country. The product, available in 32 other countries, targets a minimum of 50,000 businesswomen per year, lending them $100 million.

Besides Togo, the Ecobank subsidiaries in the Gambia and Guinea Bissau were also named by The Banker as the best bank of the year in the two countries.

Esaïe Edoh

BTCI, a fully public Togolese bank, has been officially privatized. It is now part of IB Holding, which is owned by Malian construction mogul Mahamadou Bonkoungou.

Announced last August by the council of ministers, the deal was approved on September 20th by WAEMU’s banking commission. On November 11, the ministry of finance, in a decree obtained by Togo First, authorized the change of ownership and the change of corporate name. According to this decree, IB Holding acquired 90% of the bank’s shareholding, leaving the remaining 10% stake to the State. However, the amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The decree also specifies that IB Holding’s management must finalize two capital increases equivalent to CFA20 billion before the year ends. This would bring BTCI’s capital to CFA27 billion, thus above the prudential requirements.  

Another clause states that Mamadou Bonkoungou has to transfer, latest by June 30, 2022, holdings of his largest subsidiary IB Burkina to IB Holding, a financial company under Togolese law created last June 29 and dedicated to "taking stakes in companies in the banking and financial sector."  

It is also required of IB Holding to open up to "other investors with the necessary financial capacity to support its strategy." Mahamadou Bonkoungou has also committed to making available to the group, throughout 2023, CFA10 billion in the form of blocked shareholder account to stabilize the financial health of the group.

While at the end of December 2019, BTCI had negative equity (-11 billion FCFA), Lomé requires a strengthening of the institution's equity by the end of the first half of 2022.

Since November 11, BTCI became International Business Bank Togo or IB bank Togo.