Togo's National Institute of Industrial Property and Technology (INPIT) unveiled its new logo on Wednesday, April 30, 2024, in Lomé. Sector stakeholders and ministerial authorities attended the ceremony at the Hôtel Sarakawa.

Pierre-Henri Kouabo won the national design competition, launched last February for the logo design project; he received CFA800,000 FCFA. Sewa Kodjo Akovi and B. Gautier M. Folly also competed and won CFA200,000 and CFA100,000, respectively. The competition attracted 118 entries and aimed to mobilize young talent around industrial property challenges.

During the ceremony, Essè Yovo, Chairman of the INPIT Board of Directors, representing the Minister for Investment Promotion, said the “new logo embodies the image of a Togo that creates and moves forward”. This highlights the ambition to make innovation a pillar of Togo's economic competitiveness.

Adja Tchandikou, Acting Director of the INPIT, outlined the organization's missions. The institute processes applications for patents, trademarks, and designs, while raising awareness among SMEs and local inventors. INPIT is the operational arm of OAPI in Togo.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo pushes new forestry regulations to modernize its environmental laws. Sector players met in Lomé from April 24 to 25, 2025, to validate a revised draft forestry code.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources (MERF) leads the reform to align national rules with global sustainable management standards and multilateral agreements. The update falls under the government’s 2020-2025 roadmap, especially under efforts to modernize environmental legislation.

The revised code contains 173 articles. For this new code, 140 old articles were amended, 13 deleted, and 33 added. Colonel Koffi Dimizou, MERF’s Secretary General, stated: “It’s about adapting our legislative framework to the new paradigms of environmental preservation and sustainable development.”

The new draft will be reviewed by the government’s General Secretariat for legislative review before adoption by the National Assembly. The reform aims to boost forest governance, protect ecosystems, and advance Togo’s climate goals. This follows the recent adoption of a climate change law by the National Assembly.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

For the second consecutive year, Moov Africa is Togo’s top mobile internet provider. It ranks second in the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU) region, surpassing competitor YAS, formerly Togocom and now owned by the Axian group.

The local telecom watchdog, the ARCEP, released this performance on April 28, 2025. The data comes from a survey of Togolese consumers throughout 2024. The ARCEP analyzed five key mobile Internet quality indicators: average downstream speed, average upstream speed, latency, web browsing, and YouTube video streaming.

Moov Africa Togo scored 64,865 points overall, beating YAS’s 62,148 points. In 2023, Moov Africa led with 55,172 points. Both operators showed strong 4G downstream speeds: YAS at 38.4 Mb/s and Moov Africa Togo at 34.01 Mb/s. Video streaming success rates stood at 83.37% for Moov and 84.70% for YAS. Moov Africa Togo recorded lower latency at 28.06 milliseconds compared to YAS’s 31.16 milliseconds, ensuring smoother browsing.

Web browsing success rates remain moderate, with Moov Africa Togo at 57.34% and YAS at 52.55%. Upload speeds, crucial for file transfers and video calls, measured 13.15 Mb/s for Moov and 8.91 Mb/s for YAS.

In the WAEMU region, Moov Africa Togo ranked second out of 16 operators, while YAS placed fourth. Moov topped the 4G service category, with YAS in third place. Across Africa, Moov Africa Togo ranked eighth overall and third for 4G, ahead of YAS, which ranked twelfth overall and sixth for 4G.

The ARCEP acknowledges the progress and competition between the two main operators but notes that quality still lags behind top-performing markets, especially in web browsing and upload speeds. The regulator urges Moov Africa Togo and YAS to intensify improvements to meet the best African and international standards.

Esaïe Edoh

A delegation from France’s Agen conurbation visited Lomé last week to finalize a cooperation deal with Togo’s Golfe 1 commune. Agen president Jean Dionis led the team to sign a memorandum focused on operational partnerships and territorial innovation, moving beyond traditional twinning.

The agreement includes concrete actions: Agen will supply Golfe 1 with two dump trucks and 200 refuse bins to improve waste collection. The partnership also covers public health, renewable energy, youth exchanges, and training for local officials.

Golfe 1 Mayor Koamy Gomado called the deal a “win-win” for both parties. The collaboration aims to foster business growth by connecting economic players in both regions, reflecting a shift toward decentralized cooperation as a tool for internationalizing territories.

Esaïe Edoh

Togo’s government pushes local consumption ahead of May 1, 2025. On April 29, Minister Rose Kayi Mivedor-Sambiani orders public institutions to prioritize “Made in Togo” goods and services for official events, including Workers’ Day.

The government aims to boost domestic demand, showcase Togolese skills, support local processing, and strengthen national value chains. “Compliance with this directive is key to the success of our socio-economic development policy,” the minister insists.

This instruction builds on a 2020 circular from the Prime Minister’s Office that tells administrations and state companies to use local products and foods at their events.

For five years, Togo has celebrated a month of local consumption with its WAEMU neighbors to highlight national production, led by the Ministry of Commerce.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Togo’s free roaming deals with Benin and Ghana started to pay off, but users face big differences in service quality and cost. Togolese consumer groups released a report in April 2025 that highlights these gaps.

Yas Togo and Moov Africa Togo both deliver perfect call success rates in Benin and Ghana. Both operators hit 100% for calls made and received.

Costs tell a different story. In Benin, Yas Togo and Moov charge CFA9 per minute for calls. In Ghana, the same call costs CFA175 per minute-almost double. SMS stays affordable, ranging from CFA70 to CFA100 depending on the operator and country.

Both operators provide strong call quality, but Yas Togo falls behind Moov for SMS in Benin, with a 75% success rate against Moov’s 100%. Data roaming remains a major problem. The report says users can’t access data services at all when roaming, which ruins the experience.

“Free-roaming is evolving positively in the direction of regional integration,” the report’s authors wrote while calling for more work to harmonize costs, fix data access, and boost price transparency.

For the local telecom regulator, the ARCEP, and telcos, the challenge is to speed up technical and commercial fixes to guarantee real cross-border service for customers.

Togo just signed a new free roaming agreement with Burkina Faso.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

The Togo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI-Togo) and the Coopération des Juniors Entreprises du Togo (CJET) signed a memorandum of understanding on April 25, 2025, to support young businesses. José Symenouh, CCI-Togo President, and Médissa Sama, CJET President, formalized the agreement to promote and develop startups and cooperatives under 10 years old.

The CCI-Togo pledged financial backing to improve entrepreneurs’ access to critical resources. “Our main objective is to see these young businesses grow,” José Symenouh stated, outlining training workshops and expertise sharing plans.

CJET committed to mobilizing over 1,000 businesses for the initiative. “This agreement is much more than an administrative act. It’s a founding act, a strong gesture,” Médissa Sama declared, calling the partnership pivotal for Togolese entrepreneurship.

Esaïe Edoh

The ECOWAS Regional Agriculture and Food Fund (RAFF) Supervisory Board approved its 2025-2027 work plan and budget during a meeting in Lomé last week. The fund aims to boost agricultural program funding across member states as West Africa faces escalating food insecurity.

Harmonized Framework estimates that 49.5 million people could face food insecurity during the upcoming lean season, with Nigeria accounting for over 60% of at-risk populations. The RAFF seeks to strengthen regional coordination and scale existing initiatives to address the crisis.

Massandjé Touré-Litsè, ECOWAS Agriculture Commissioner, chaired the session and emphasized urgent resource mobilization, improved fund absorption in member states, and enhanced technical partnerships.

 “We have advanced financing agreements, capacity-building efforts, and regional projects promoting climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, and value-chain development,” Touré-Litsè stated.

The three-year budget will enable the RAFF to expand support for inclusive, competitive agricultural sectors and reinforce food security and poverty reduction efforts. The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) manages the RAFF, which finances the Regional Agricultural Policy Investment Program (ECOWAP).

This article was initially published in French by Esaie Edoh

Edited in English by Ange Jason Quenum

Prime Minister Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé met with France’s Special Envoy for the Sahel, Christophe Guilhou, last week. Guilhou was with French Ambassador Augustin Favereau. The meeting aimed to deepen dialogue between Paris and Lomé as Togo asserts its stabilizing and diplomatic role amid shifting regional geopolitics.

Discussions focused on Togo’s economic ambitions, regional integration policies, and structural challenges to sustaining development gains. After the meeting, Christophe Guilhou said it aimed to “discuss the quality of bilateral relations, continuing the high-level exchanges between Togolese and French leaders, starting with the Head of State. (...) And then to discuss the regional situation, since Togo has a special role in the sub-region.”

France expressed keen interest in Togo’s actions to foster resilience, inclusive growth, and regional diplomacy. The recent meeting strengthens the prospects for a structured partnership that balances strategic and economic interests. Togo positions itself as a bridge between political stability, economic transformation, and diplomatic influence.

The talks came days after President Faure Gnassingbé became the African Union mediator for the peace talks to end the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The port of Lomé made history last week. On April 24, the MSC Diletta—stretching 400 meters long and 61 meters wide—became the largest container ship ever to dock in Togo or anywhere on the West African coast. This is not just a big ship. It’s a big deal for Togo’s future as a regional logistics powerhouse.

The Diletta’s journey started in China, then stopped in India, Singapore, and Ghana’s Tema port before reaching Lomé. Next up: Abidjan and Kribi. Until now, only 366-meter ships worked this route. Lomé had hosted a 400-meter ship earlier in 2024, but the Diletta, with the capacity to fill nearly 15,000 trucks, takes things to a new level.

“This is the culmination of years of work, with the support of the Togolese authorities. Today, we are showing that Lomé is capable of handling the world’s largest ships with the same rigour as the port hubs of Europe and Asia,” said Gregory Krief, Managing Director of MSC Togo.

The Diletta’s arrival was a full team effort—six pilots, four tugs, and smooth operations all around. Containers offloaded at Lomé aren’t just for Togo. Most are headed for Nigeria, Gabon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. “Lomé is no longer a national port. It’s an integrated regional hub, connected to all the major terminals in the sub-region,” Krief said. “It is an essential link in our door-to-door network. We provide weekly connections with the main ports in the sub-region, including Tema, Cotonou, Douala, and Libreville.”

Last year, the Lomé Container Terminal (LCT)—a joint venture between TIL (MSC) and China Merchants—handled nearly 1.7 million TEUs, much of it transhipped to other countries. Thanks to deep waters and low congestion, Lomé is beating out rivals like Tema and Abidjan.

At full tilt, the terminal moves over 30 containers an hour, matching the pace of major Mediterranean ports. “Our low domestic demand is actually an advantage: it allows us to devote more space and agility to regional flows,” Krief said.

Lomé’s rise is not luck. In just 10 years, container traffic jumped from 500,000 to over 2 million TEUs, and total cargo now tops 30 million tonnes—triple what it was a decade ago. Richard Kangbeni, Minister for the maritime sector, sees the Diletta’s visit as proof of President Faure Gnassingbé’s vision. “Receiving the Diletta confirms the relevance of the vision of President Faure Gnassingbé, who has made the autonomous port of Lomé a pillar of the country’s economic and logistical development,” the official said.

Togo is betting on its geographic position to become the Sahel’s gateway, with corridors to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. The government is modernizing infrastructure, digitizing customs, and wooing global shipping giants.

As for MSC, its management emphasized that they “will continue to strengthen our equipment and modernise our facilities to support the growth in regional demand.” More mega-ships like the Diletta are already scheduled to stop by Lomé’s port in the coming weeks.

This article was initially published in French by Fiacre E. Kakpo

Edited in English by Jason Ange Quenum