Togo’s agri-food trade ties with Brazil are expected to deepen after the West African nation signed a partnership agreement with Brazil’s Institut Daniel Franco last week in Lomé.

The agreement covers knowledge and technology transfer, the facilitation of agri-food trade and the development of joint investment projects. Titled “Établissement d’un marché commun entre le Togo et le Brésil en matière d’agroalimentaire et de renforcement des capacités,” it calls for training sessions and technical missions, the promotion of a competitive and sustainable agro-industrial ecosystem, and support for initiatives to boost trade and joint investment.

Through the partnership, Togolese authorities aim to position agriculture as a key driver of economic growth, job creation and income generation. The planned initiatives are expected to accelerate the sector’s modernization, increase crop and livestock output, improve productivity, promote local processing and strengthen food security.

Founded 94 years ago, the Institut Daniel Franco is one of Brazil’s leading institutions in agriculture, livestock and agribusiness. It is particularly known for its work in animal breeding and sustainable livestock practices.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo’s Ministry Delegate for Investment Promotion, in partnership with the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPIT), the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has launched a three-day training program on intellectual property for customs officers, police, gendarmes, researchers and students from technical and vocational schools. The event opened on Monday in Lomé and runs through Feb. 25.

The sessions aim to strengthen participants’ understanding of intellectual property protection and its role in fostering innovation and business competitiveness.

The initiative seeks to build the capacity of institutions involved in enforcing intellectual property rights and combating counterfeiting. It aligns with the government’s efforts to improve the legal and institutional framework and enhance the country’s appeal to investors.

Plan International Togo has launched a project to boost the economic resilience of young people and women affected by climate change in Blitta prefecture, in the Central region.

The initiative has a budget of 874,448 euros (about 574 million CFA francs), financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Plan International Germany.

The 30-month program, running from December 2025 to May 2028, will be rolled out across all 21 cantons of the prefecture. It targets around 679 young people aged 15 to 35, including 313 girls, with a focus on those with disabilities. The aim is to help them engage in environmentally sustainable income-generating activities.

Implemented in partnership with the NGO RADAR and relevant government technical services, the project will provide technical and entrepreneurship training in sectors such as livestock farming, market gardening and fish farming. The partners aim to strengthen local production while easing pressure on natural resources.

Plan International has operated in Togo since 1988 as a humanitarian and development organization promoting children’s rights and gender equality. Its activities focus on inclusive education, health and sexual and reproductive rights, protection from violence, and youth economic empowerment. The NGO works nationwide, particularly in the Savanes, Kara, Central and Maritime regions, through community projects and child sponsorship programs. Its funding comes mainly from sponsorships, private donations and institutional partners including the European Union, the French Development Agency (AFD) and UN agencies.

The program is expected to support rural household incomes and strengthen social inclusion, according to local authorities.

R.E.D

Togo is seeking to revise the institutional and regulatory framework governing its aquaculture sector. On Feb. 20, national stakeholders in aquaculture and biosecurity met in Lomé to formally adopt the findings of a study on the existing legal framework.

The initiative is led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Animal Resources and Food Sovereignty, represented by its chief of staff, Dindiogue Konlani. It is being implemented with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), through the Fishery Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea, with technical assistance from the NGO Oceans Friends International.

The study aims to align legislation with national realities and regional standards. It recommends drafting or revising legislation to incorporate biosecurity measures, which are absent from the current fishing and aquaculture law.

Current output approaches 3,500 tonnes

The review comes as the sector has expanded rapidly in recent years. “Output is currently approaching 3,500 tonnes, compared with about 120 tonnes in the 2010s. Significant investments backed by our strategic partner JICA have supported this progress,” Konlani said.

Growth has been driven in part by the Agricultural Sector Support Project and the Togo Aquaculture Development Project, which promote cage fish farming and the distribution of “super male” tilapia. The long-term objective is to reduce fish imports and strengthen food security.

Authorities have nonetheless warned of health risks linked to trade in live fish and imported feed. Diseases such as tilapia lake virus and certain bacterial infections can affect both farms and surrounding ecosystems, including at Nangbéto Dam. The regulatory revision is intended to support sector growth while safeguarding national aquatic resources.

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Togo and Turkey are exploring the establishment of a direct logistics corridor between the Port of Lomé and the Port of Mersin, located on Turkey's northeastern Mediterranean coast.

The project was discussed in Lomé over the weekend during talks between Kokou Edem Tengue, Minister Delegate for Maritime Affairs, and Turkey's ambassador to Togo, Muteber Kılıç. A memorandum of understanding is being drafted to formalize the initiative.

"I held a productive working session with H.E. Ms. Muteber Kılıç, Turkish Ambassador to Togo. Our discussions focused on strengthening the maritime partnership, marked by the forthcoming submission of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Turkish side," Tengue said on the sidelines of the talks.

The initiative aims to streamline trade flows, reduce transit times and strengthen the competitiveness of both port platforms. For Ankara, the project is also a means of using Lomé's geographic position to gain easier access to landlocked countries in the hinterland, notably Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.

Mersin is Turkey's leading container traffic port and serves as an interface between Anatolia, Central Asia and the Mediterranean basin. Lomé, for its part, is pressing ahead with its strategy to become a regional logistics hub. Cooperation could also extend beyond the maritime sector to industrial zones, particularly in textiles and energy.

Bilateral trade has risen sharply, from $128 million in 2021 to more than double that figure in 2025.

"With $270 million in trade already, the challenge now is to shift into a higher gear to boost our international competitiveness by creating a direct, high-performance logistics corridor between the Port of Lomé and the Port of Mersin," Tengue said.

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The University of Lomé has begun construction of a clinical and academic complex focused on oral and dental medicine. The foundation stone was laid last weekend by Vice President Kokou Batawila and David Ugai, representing Mercy Ships, the international hospital NGO financing the project.

The complex will provide hands-on training for future dental surgeons and is expected to expand access to oral health care in Togo. At its core will be the university’s Center for Odontostomatological Consultation and Treatment (CCTOS-UL), which will form the heart of the facility.

The center will house around ten modern dental clinics, an oral surgery unit, prosthetics units and an imaging suite equipped with digital intraoral and panoramic radiography, bringing patient care and academic training under one roof. Professor Aboudoulatif Diallo, first vice-dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, said the project marks the start of a long-term effort to build lasting academic capacity in the field.

The complex will also include modern classrooms, a prosthetics laboratory and a medical simulation center equipped with about 20 simulators. Officials said the facilities will allow students to train extensively before treating patients, raising professional standards.

Ugai said the initiative is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the medical workforce. Mercy Ships plans to sponsor students pursuing specialist training, support the creation of advanced degree programs and help map surgical capacity nationwide.

Batawila described the project as a major step forward and said the goal is to turn the department into a sub-regional hub for oral health. The project’s total cost and completion timeline were not disclosed.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo and the United Nations country team held a joint review last weekend of the U.N. Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2023-2026), assessing progress three years after its launch and setting new priorities.

According to the review, more than 5,000 women accessed community savings and credit schemes, over 107,000 smallholder farmers received assistance, and nearly 2,000 rural jobs were created. Three million seedlings were planted, and 88,500 hectares of protected areas are now managed sustainably.

In the social sector, 64 classrooms were built or rehabilitated, and 64,000 children received school meals. A total of 83 boreholes were drilled. More than 113,000 births were attended by skilled personnel in the Savanes region, and over 6,000 survivors of gender-based violence received support.

While both sides described the results as encouraging, they said the program would enter a new phase. Government representative Sandra Johnson, minister and secretary-general of the Presidency of the Council, set out new policy priorities, including improving the quality of public spending, strengthening monitoring and impact evaluation, and ensuring that 2026 annual work plans are fully aligned with national priorities.

The government also plans to explore the creation of a multi-partner trust fund, or basket fund, to improve resource mobilization and coordination.

With these adjustments, the partnership between Togo and the U.N. system is aligned with the government’s Fifth Republic agenda and the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo’s financial inclusion rate rose to 89.04% in 2024 from 87.7%, according to a government statement issued after a Cabinet meeting on Feb. 19, 2026.

The increase reflects progress under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2021 to 2025, adopted in December 2021 to expand access to formal financial services, particularly for vulnerable groups.

The latest figure keeps Togo ranked second in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, or WAEMU.

“The results are significant: in 2024, the financial inclusion rate increased from 87.7% to 89.04%, placing Togo second in WAEMU,” the government said.

Financial inclusion refers to individuals’ and businesses’ access to affordable financial products and services, including payments, savings, credit and insurance, delivered responsibly and sustainably.

The government attributed much of the progress to the National Inclusive Finance Fund, known as the FNFI, which plays a central role in the country’s inclusion efforts. As of end-October 2025, the fund had disbursed more than 1.9 million loans totaling 116.59 billion CFA francs, primarily targeting women, youth and informal sector workers.

Over the past five years, inclusion has also been supported by the expansion of microfinance, the growth of mobile money and the digitalization of financial services. The number of accounts at microfinance institutions and payment service providers has increased, extending access to financial services in rural areas.

The government also approved a new 2026 to 2030 strategy, the creation of a fintech innovation bureau and a dedicated project for youth. The objective is to consolidate recent gains and improve service quality.

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Togo has become a signatory to the new International Cocoa Agreement (ICA 2026), signing the pact on Feb. 13, 2026, at the United Nations Cocoa Conference hosted by UNCTAD in Geneva.

It joins Nicaragua and Côte d’Ivoire among the first countries to sign. The agreement reshapes cooperation between cocoa-producing and consuming countries. It replaces the 2010 accord and moves away from fixed-term renewals, establishing an open-ended framework aimed at stabilising a sector prone to recurring structural imbalances.

The ICA 2026 sets out five priorities. Chief among them is securing a living income for producers — a longstanding demand from West African countries, which account for most global output.

The agreement also promotes local processing to boost value addition in producing countries, encourages new industrial uses for cocoa in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, calls for fewer barriers to investment and supports expanded trade in cocoa-derived products.

A new article dedicated to sustainability covers economic, environmental and social standards. As European Union deforestation rules tighten supply chain requirements, the provision signals stronger alignment with emerging regulatory norms.

Togo signed through its Coordination Committee for Coffee and Cocoa Sectors (CCFCC). By doing so, it aims to strengthen its voice in global cocoa governance, improve farmer incomes and attract investment into domestic processing.

Esaïe Edoh