Togo First
West African States Meet in Togo to Discuss Syndromic Surveillance Network
Eleven West African countries, including Togo, are meeting in Lomé to assess a regional syndromic surveillance program.
The meeting, which opened Monday, is reviewing planned 2025 activities of the Integrated Surveillance and Laboratory Network (RISLNET). Delegations are sharing data on pathogens under surveillance, including respiratory viruses, arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers, through Wednesday.
Participants are also assessing the performance of the region’s sentinel surveillance network and the operational capacity of national laboratories. The agenda includes a presentation of a regional strategy for transporting biological samples and a discussion of the network’s challenges and future directions.
The discussions aim to help the Pasteur Institute of Dakar and its partners improve the quality of health data and strengthen countries’ ability to detect, monitor and respond to antimicrobial resistance in West Africa.
The meeting will support regional advocacy ahead of the International Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance, scheduled for June 2026 in Abuja. Officials will draft a subregional action plan after the sessions.
The Pasteur Institute of Dakar launched the syndromic surveillance program in 2023 in collaboration with the health ministries of member states, with technical coordination from the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and Africa CDC. The initiative is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Fund.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo Makes HIV Gains but Faces Increasing Financial Pressures
As Togo marked World AIDS Day on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, authorities and their partners reported new data showing steady improvements in HIV testing, treatment and viral suppression nationwide.
Data from the National AIDS Control Council (CNLS) and UNAIDS show that nearly 98% of people living with HIV knew their status in 2024, up from 90% the year before. Treatment coverage remained stable at 92%, while 85% of monitored patients had an undetectable viral load. The figures align with the 95-95-95 strategy guiding the national response.
Gains were also reported in preventing mother-to-child transmission. In 2024, 87% of pregnant women living with HIV received antiretroviral treatment, according to UNAIDS. However, the data show that pediatric coverage remains lower and requires targeted interventions.
In comparison, 2023 recorded lower levels, with 84% of people on treatment and 76% achieving viral suppression. AIDS-related deaths have fallen from 6,600 in 2010 to 2,300 in 2023, showing the impact of ongoing efforts.
These gains come amid declining international funding. CNLS coordinator Vincent Pitche described a “turbulent period” that could undermine progress, noting that several external partners have revised their commitments and raised concerns over the sustainability of national programs.
Officials involved in the response say the priority now is to boost domestic resources and ensure service continuity to maintain progress and reduce new infections.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo Opens Justice Centers in Kabou and Pagala in Access-to-Justice Push
Togo has opened two new community justice centers as part of efforts to expand access to legal services, particularly for citizens living far from formal courts.
The centers, located in the towns of Kabou and Pagala, became operational after ceremonies on Nov. 24 and Nov. 27 to appoint mediators. The events were presided over by Kadanga Tchalim, chief of staff at the justice ministry.
Created by presidential decree in 2018, the centers serve as intermediaries between formal courts and the public. They provide free mediation, conciliation and basic legal guidance for minor disputes.
Their role includes resolving neighborhood conflicts, rental disputes, family or land issues, and directing users to the appropriate services.
Data shows rising use of the centers. Cases handled by the 16 centers currently in operation increased from 3,857 in 2022 to 5,518 in 2024. The mediation success rate exceeded 90% in 2024, up from 85.8% the previous year, while debt recovery cases processed through the centers more than doubled over the same period.
The new facilities are funded through a support program financed by the Togolese state and the World Bank. Authorities urged communities to use the centers to resolve conflicts peacefully and affordably.
With Togo now operating about twenty justice centers, authorities say the goal is to continue expanding the network to cover more municipalities.
R.E.D
Togo Gets 1,625-Ton Rice Shipment From Japan for Vulnerable Households
Togo received a shipment of 1,625 tons of rice from Japan on Friday under a food aid program targeting vulnerable households.
The donation is part of Japan’s Kennedy Round (KR) program, an initiative aimed at strengthening food security. The shipment will be stored in facilities of the National Food Security Agency (ANSAT).
The rice will be sold nationwide at an affordable price, mainly for low-income households and the revenue used to finance development projects, especially in agriculture.
The program has previously supported projects such as the development of Planned Agricultural Zones and the purchase of farming equipment, including tractors.
“It is a model that turns food aid into long-term investment in agriculture,” the authorities said.
Japan’s Kennedy Round program is a food aid instrument within its cooperation policy with partner countries. Since 2008, Togo has received more than 33,000 tons of white rice through the scheme.
Lomé to Host 9th Pan-African Congress Dec. 9-12, 2025 After Delays
The 9th Pan-African Congress will be held from Dec. 8 to 12, 2025, in the Togolese capital, Lomé, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The event, organized by the government in partnership with the African Union, has faced repeated postponements over the past year.
The 2025 congress will take place at the Lomé Convention Center under the theme “Renewal of Pan-Africanism and Africa’s role in the reform of multilateral institutions: mobilizing resources and reinventing itself to act.”
The ministry said it has opened registrations for the gathering, which will bring together participants from across the continent, the diaspora and African-descendant communities for a series of panels and discussions.
Talks will focus on issues shaping the continent’s future and will reaffirm Pan-Africanism’s founding principles, according to the announcement.
The issue of reparations for historical injustices suffered by Africans will also be discussed. Participants will review the conclusions of preparatory regional meetings held across the continent.
Togo's Cost of Tax Breaks Rises 14.6% to 164.1 Bln CFA Francs in 2024
Togo’s fiscal cost of tax expenditures rose to 164.1 billion CFA francs in 2024, up 14.6% from 143.2 billion CFA francs in 2023, according to a recent government report. The amount represents 18.6% of the state’s net revenue and 2.7% of GDP.
Tax expenditures, defined as revenue the government did not collect to support specific taxpayers or sectors, were assessed based on 695 preferential tax provisions contained in various laws. Of these, 506 measures, or 72.8%, could be quantified.
Most of the cost came from indirect taxes. Value-added tax accounted for 70.3 billion CFA francs, or 42.9% of the total. Corporate income tax followed at 42.8 billion CFA francs, equal to 26.1%.
Other revenue losses came from the statistical royalty at 21.5 billion CFA francs, customs duties at 20.7 billion CFA francs, the business license tax at 3.7 billion CFA francs and excise duties at 3.1 billion CFA francs.
Personal income tax on business and wage earnings contributed only 1.4 billion CFA francs, while the national solidarity levy and the property tax accounted for 0.5 billion and 0.2 billion CFA francs respectively.
Businesses were the main beneficiaries and received 50.6% of all tax advantages. Measures that applied to both businesses and households represented 42.7%. Public administrations and public-utility entities received 5.1%.
These preferential tax treatments include exemptions, deductions, tax credits and reduced rates. They are used by the government to encourage investment, support employment and strengthen social protection.
They also reduce budget revenue, which requires a balance between tax incentives and the need to raise public revenue. Togo’s revenue targets have increased steadily in recent years, driven by the Togo Revenue Authority, and are set at 1,208.4 billion CFA francs for 2024.
Togo’s Tchaoudjo 1 Sets 2035 Goal to Recycle Up to 60% of Local Waste
The Tchaoudjo 1 municipality in Togo’s Central Region has launched a local waste and sanitation policy. The policy was presented in Sokodé in late November as part of the European Union-funded Waste Management in Togo (GEDEC) project, implemented by Expertise France.
The municipal policy, which covers 2025 to 2035, sets out measures for effective and sustainable waste management involving local stakeholders. It addresses solid and liquid waste, organizes pre-collection activities and closely monitors transfers to the engineered landfill site.
For liquid waste, the system involves collecting waste from households and public facilities before transporting it to a fecal sludge treatment plant.
The policy, which runs until 2035, sets interim targets for expanding service by the end of 2027 and 2030. By then, the municipality aims to collect 85 to 90 percent of the waste generated and recycle more than 60 percent of plastic and organic waste.
On sanitation, the goal is to ensure that 90 percent of the population has access to latrines that can be emptied and that all collected sludge is treated at the fecal sludge plant.
Tchaoudjo 1 Mayor Ouro Sama Mohamed Saad said the policy will improve living conditions in Sokodé over the long term. “The entire population will be involved in implementing this policy. We will work with residents to keep our city clean,” he said.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo Calls on Municipalities to Catalogue Heritage Sites as Part of Tourism Push
Togo has launched a new effort to promote its cultural and tourism sites through its local municipalities. A training session for municipal officials on how to better develop and promote these sites was held in Lomé last week.
The initiative is part of a national place-branding strategy aimed at preserving Togolese musical heritage through municipal programs, encouraging the creation of sports centers in each municipality and strengthening the local culture and tourism sector. Municipalities are being encouraged to integrate tourism more systematically into their development plans.
Ahead of the preparation of a national strategy to promote cultural and tourism assets, Culture Minister Isaac Tchiakpé has asked all municipalities to compile an inventory of their heritage sites.
The initiative comes as Togo pursues a range of programs to boost its tourism sector. The government is working to expand business tourism, including through a digital hotel booking platform for major events. Work is also underway to restore several key sites, such as the historic Kamina site near Atakpamé and the Koutammakou cultural landscape. Official data indicates that tourism contributes about 8 percent of national GDP.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo Weighs Allowing Women to Claim Husbands as Dependents for Income Tax
To reduce gender inequality in taxation, female civil servants should be allowed to declare their husbands as dependents for Personal Income Tax calculations, just as men can do for their wives. This recommendation appears in an analytical brief published earlier this year by the Directorate General of Budget and Finance within Togo’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, which examines gender disparities in the tax system.
Currently, only a husband may declare his wife as a dependent for IRPP calculations in Togo. The ministry argues that this contradicts existing laws on gender equality in public administration.
Togo’s IRPP applies a progressive rate ranging from 0 percent for annual income below 900,000 CFA francs to 35 percent for income above 10 million CFA francs. Overall, most current tax measures are gender neutral, and the analysis finds that they do not reduce economic inequalities between men and women.
Beyond the IRPP proposal, the report suggests lowering import duty rates for women traders. The African Union levy could be reduced from 0.2 percent of customs value to 0.1 percent, and the national solidarity levy from 0.5 percent to 0.2 percent. These adjustments would target the informal sector, where women account for 54 percent of workers.
The report also proposes reductions for women subject to certain import-related charges, including adjustments to the ECOWAS solidarity rate, given women’s strong participation in informal trade.
On the budgeting side, allocations for gender-related programs increased from 20 billion CFA francs in 2022 to 30.5 billion in 2024, a rise of 52 percent. Even so, they represent only a small share of the national budget, increasing from 1.07 percent in 2022 to 1.35 percent in 2024.
The ministry recommends expanding gender-equality strategies across all sectors, strengthening statistical data collection and building administrative capacity for gender-responsive budgeting.
The assessment highlights progress in education and healthcare, alongside persistent disparities. Women hold only about 21.7 percent of leadership positions in the administration. Their access to land and finance remains limited, despite initiatives in Planned Agricultural Development Areas and inclusive finance programs. Some 7,964 women have been allocated plots in ZAAPs, representing 41 percent of beneficiaries.
Gaps also remain in secondary schooling, although primary completion rates for girls reached 95.7 percent in 2024. The Wezou initiative has supported more than 400,000 pregnant women. Women’s representation in the National Assembly stands at 18.5 percent, and women’s land ownership in the Savanes region is only 2.6 percent.
The ministry argues that integrating gender into taxation and budgeting is essential to closing these gaps. The goal is a fairer allocation of resources and stronger support for women’s economic participation. Women make up 51.3 percent of the population and more than half of the national labor force.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo Drafts National Strategy to Guide the Use of Artificial Intelligence
Togo is developing a national artificial intelligence strategy to guide the use of the technology in public administration. A forum was recently held in Lomé for representatives from ministries, public institutions and civil society under the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Governance.”
The meeting, organized by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, aimed to establish a clear framework for the use of AI in government. Discussions focused on the opportunities these tools offer to improve public services and the risks linked to algorithmic bias and the protection of citizens’ rights. For Oubo M’bo, director for democratic governance, the challenge is to integrate emerging technologies while safeguarding democratic principles.
The symposium comes as several sectors are exploring the use of AI to improve performance. Public administration already relies on data analysis tools, automation and digital process management. The government now wants to formalize this shift to ensure transparent decision-making, high data quality and a defined human role in workflows.
This effort builds on a series of national initiatives. In technical education, a policy for integrating AI into training programs is being developed to modernize learning. In 2024, the “Grand Atelier du Digital” laid the foundation for a national strategy to guide innovation, protect data and strengthen the digital ecosystem.
The strategy now being drafted is expected to outline guidelines for public services, support local research and define an appropriate regulatory framework.
R.E.D.