Togo First
West Africa Rice Program Launches in Togo's Sotouboua Cluster
The Rice Program for West Africa (RIZAO) has been launched in Togo's Sotouboua cluster, led by INADES-Formation and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA).
The program is part of a regional consortium that includes AfricaRice, MEDA, and 35° Nord, with funding from the Mastercard Foundation.
Launched in 2024, the program aims to strengthen the capacities of rice producers, particularly young women, young men, and people with disabilities working in the sector. A launch workshop held on Friday presented the project's objectives, technical support modalities, and planned actions to improve productivity and market orientation for farms.
The initiative will structure the Sotouboua cluster around a common framework to coordinate the efforts of local stakeholders. Organizers emphasized the need to share field data, adapt interventions, and strengthen local governance to ensure the continuity of activities.
As part of the launch, the Sotouboua municipality expressed its support for the initiative, stating that it supports agricultural entrepreneurship in the area. Involved stakeholders expect the program to improve yields, increase incomes, and better organize the rice value chain.
Three clusters in Togo are part of the RIZAO project: the Tône rice mill in the Savanes region, the Sotouboua mill in the Centrale region, and the Apéssito mill in the Maritime region.
The broader RIZAO program is a sub-regional initiative also being implemented in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal. It is funded by the Mastercard Foundation with $50 million as part of its Young Africa Works strategy.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
University of Lomé to Establish Training Center for Prestigious Agrégation Exams
The University of Lome will open a new center to train candidates for agrégation competitive examinations its president said on Monday.
Kossivi Hounake made the announcement during a ceremony honoring 11 Togolese candidates admitted to the 22nd agrégation competition of the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES) in legal, political, economic and management sciences.
University officials said the new center will focus on preparing candidates for the agrégation exam, working with national and international partners. It will offer a structured program with tailored study materials and academic supervision from experienced faculty.
Hounake said the initiative also aims to improve teaching quality and draw on African expertise to make Lome a leading center for training the continent’s academic elite.
“Lome must become an African capital of knowledge,” he said. “Lome is not just a place of teaching; it is a hub of talent and a crossroads of African excellence.”
The center is expected to reduce Togo’s reliance on external training programs, which are often based in other countries in the region or in Europe. By offering high-quality preparation locally, it aims to improve success rates in the CAMES competition and raise the University of Lome’s international profile.
Esaïe Edoh
Kossi Ténou Appointed to Lead WAEMU's Financial Markets Authority
Togo’s Kossi Ténou has been appointed to head the Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union (AMF-UEMOA), replacing Badanam Patoki, who has been named Togo’s Minister of Economy and Strategic Foresight.
The decision was announced on Tuesday after an extraordinary session of the UMOA Council of Ministers. The leadership change comes as member states seek to raise capital more effectively through the regional market.
The AMF-UEMOA is responsible for ensuring market integrity and transparency and for supporting modernization efforts in a regional financial market that has become a key channel for financing public infrastructure, issuing sovereign bonds and supporting local businesses.
An economist and career central banker, Ténou has more than twenty years of experience in the West African financial system. He served for several years as the National Director of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) for Togo before becoming advisor to Governor Jean-Claude Kassi Brou in late 2023.
Since October 2025, he has served as Minister Delegate responsible for trade and quality standards in Togo. His career combines banking supervision, monetary policy work, and economic oversight.
His appointment comes as several major projects are still underway. Priorities include deepening the regional market, fostering financial innovation, improving investor protection, and coordinating national regulators. Member states also expect the AMF-UEMOA to play a bigger role in boosting bond issuance and strengthening long-term financing channels.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
BOAD Updates Procurement Rules to Speed Up Project Disbursements in Togo
The West African Development Bank (BOAD) is hosting a training session in Lomé this week for public procurement actors. The goal is to improve the understanding of procurement procedures and speed up disbursements for projects financed in Togo.
The initiative follows several implementation reports that highlight delays caused by a partial understanding of tender rules.
CFA1 098 billion in disbursements
Since its creation, the bank has mobilized more than CFA1 098 billion for the country. Part of these resources sometimes remains uncommitted due to incomplete procedures or non-compliant files.
BOAD aims to reduce these delays by aligning national practices with its internal standards and with regional public procurement directives.
The training covers procurement policies, standard bidding documents, supervision methods, and anti-fraud and anti-corruption mechanisms. It also includes new rules governing evaluation committees. The institution seeks to improve the quality of award processes, strengthen procurement planning, and ensure secure project execution.
The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARCOP) supports this upgrade, noting that modernizing the national system is a strategic priority. Proper mastery of procedures improves contract reliability, reduces administrative risks, and creates a more predictable environment for external financing.
According to the regional development institution, transparency and compliance determine the speed of disbursements. Better execution would also support progress on infrastructure, public services, and productive sector projects.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo Updates Legal Framework to Strengthen Agricultural Interprofessions
The Togolese government and its partners updated and adapted legal texts on governance and contract farming early last week. The revision aims to strengthen the interprofessions of the maize, cassava, soybean, pineapple, and mango sectors.
It will soon lead to an interministerial order on the regulation, control, and monitoring of activities in these five value chains, along with the drafting of implementing texts for the decree on the structuring and recognition of professional and interprofessional organizations.
Togo previously lacked a law governing agricultural interprofessional bodies, a legal gap that stakeholders say has limited business opportunities across value chain segments. This is especially the case for the sectors targeted by the Program to Promote Private Sector Competitiveness in Togo (ProComp), namely maize, cassava, mango, soybean, and pineapple.
According to Bouab Kpanté, Director of Agricultural Entrepreneurship and Financing (DEFA), these texts provide an essential legal and institutional tool for interprofessional governance. They will also enable the European Union and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-financiers of ProComp, to further support the structuring and functioning of these organizations.
This update, expected to result in a reorganization of interprofessions, plays a strategic role in agricultural development. It comes as the country enters a new phase of its agricultural policy, which requires strengthening the identity of interprofessions to mobilize financing and support producers, particularly through contract farming.
Togo’s National Assembly begins review of the 2026 draft budget
- Lawmakers open committee examination of the 2026 finance bill.
- The draft budget stands at CFA2,740.5 billion, up 14.4 % from 2025.
- The document will proceed to the Senate after the Assembly’s review.
In Togo, the National Assembly began committee review of the 2026 draft finance law on November 24. Recently adopted by the executive, the session will span several days and focus on an in-depth analysis of the document, during which lawmakers will examine the government’s proposed budget lines.
The session was opened by the president of the institution, Selom Klassou, in the presence of the ministers of Finance and Budget, Georges Barcola, and Economy and Strategic Monitoring, Badanam Patoki, along with other members of the government.
During the review, lawmakers are expected to ensure that the government’s budget choices meet the population’s needs and propose amendments if necessary. Set at CFA2,740.5 billion, a 14.4 % increase from the previous fiscal year, the 2026 budget may undergo adjustments.
Once examined by the National Assembly, the document will be forwarded to the Senate, the second chamber of Parliament, in line with the principles of equal bicameralism established under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.
“This process aims to ensure that the budget proposed by the government for the coming year reflects citizens’ expectations and effectively supports the country’s economic, social, and security development goals,” Selom Klassou said.
Togo’s “Nuit du Droit” Debates Digital Transformation and AI Regulation
Legal professionals gathered in Lomé for the third edition of Nuit du Droit, an event dedicated to examining how the law should evolve in an increasingly digital society. Co-organized by the Association togolaise pour la promotion du droit (ATPD) and the IPDCP, this year’s edition explored the theme “Droit et transformation numérique : vers une société de confiance ?”, which questions how legal frameworks can foster trust in a rapidly changing technological environment.
Participants focused on the challenges of adapting legal systems amid profound shifts driven by digital technologies. The objective was to assess how the law can keep pace with innovations such as artificial intelligence and large-scale data processing, without slowing progress or compromising citizens’ rights.
Talla Hervé Awui, president of the organizing committee, said the law is not intended to hinder technological development but to guide it responsibly. Lieutenant-Colonel Belei Bédiani, head of the IPDCP, echoed this view and reiterated Togo’s ambition to build a modern digital society grounded in ethics, responsibility, and human-rights protection.
A regulators’ roundtable opened the event, featuring Togolese institutions involved in overseeing the country’s digital transition, with support from Benin’s Agence des Systèmes d’Informations et du Numérique (ASIN). Institutions presented their approaches and regulatory tools for addressing the rapid growth of digital technologies.
The discussions then turned to the transformation of legal practice itself. Speakers highlighted the rise of the “Jurist 2.0,” a modern legal professional whose training, methods, and day-to-day work are increasingly shaped by digital platforms, online procedures, and new forms of digital evidence. The panel stressed that legal education must adapt to equip future practitioners with the skills required in a technology-driven environment.
Another major theme examined the changing relationship between law and entrepreneurship. Panelists argued that although innovation is inherently free, it must evolve within a clear and predictable legal framework. They insisted that well-designed regulation can stimulate, rather than restrict, the creativity of young African startups and help them innovate with confidence.
Law was also described as the backbone of any company “from creation to dissolution,” said Maître Ornella Ahiatsi, a lawyer at the Paris Bar and founder of Essenam Avocat. She illustrated this with practical examples, such as installing video surveillance inside buildings while avoiding the capture of public roads and posting a clear sign indicating “Building under surveillance.”
The third edition of Nuit du Droit concluded with acknowledgments of event partners and networking sessions that allowed legal professionals, regulators, and digital-sector participants to continue exchanging ideas.
S.A
Togo Faces ‘Silent Pandemic’ of Drug Resistance, Experts Tell Lomé Symposium
A scientific symposium on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was held in Lomé, concluding the World AMR Awareness Week on Saturday, June 22, 2025. Researchers, doctors, biologists, pharmacists, and institutional actors discussed the health and economic challenges linked to the progression of AMR in Togo.
A training session for media professionals was held on November 18 by the BIOLOIM/FSS-UL Laboratory, with support from the Africa International Development Foundation (FADI). The session aimed to strengthen communicators' ability to relay reliable messages about AMR.
Professor Mounerou Salou, the AMR focal point in Togo, stated that "antimicrobial resistance is a real silent pandemic, because resistant bacteria move easily from one continent to another." He stressed the importance of "appropriate prescribing," which requires respecting dosage, duration, and indications.
Experts also highlighted the importance of the One Health approach, which considers human, animal, and environmental health together to better prevent the emergence and spread of resistant bacteria.
The economic and environmental dimension was also emphasized. The excessive use of antibiotics in animal health creates multi-resistant bacteria, leading to losses for breeders and a weakening of the food supply chain. One participant noted, "The excessive use of antibiotics leads some microbes to develop resistance... this causes problems we never imagined."
Scientific discussions during the week highlighted national data, including from HIV surveillance. In 2023, 6.3% of newly diagnosed patients already had resistant mutations, and 17.8% had mutations associated with potential resistance to integrase inhibitors, illustrating a broader AMR dynamic in Togo.
For health officials, these indicators show the urgency of investing in laboratories, microbiological surveillance, and the oversight of prescriptions.
Media engagement is presented as an essential lever to support this change. "Journalists and communicators play a decisive role in useful awareness-raising," the FADI, which sponsors the initiative, stated. Following the week's events, specialists called for a collective response to curb the future impact of AMR on health costs, economic productivity, and household health security.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
Togo to Develop First Management Plan for Long-Protected Tchorogo Forest
Togo has begun preparing a management plan for the Tchorogo protected forest in Blitta prefecture. The initiative was launched on Saturday, November 22, 2025, in Blitta-Gare, 260 km north of the capital, Lomé.
The plan will serve as a 10-year framework for the sustainable management of the forest. The 1,515-hectare Tchorogo forest, designated a protected area in January 1947, has never had a formal management plan outlining management method, decisions made, their rationale, or future priorities.
The new plan will aim to balance forest protection with local development. Nearby communities will be involved through income-generating activities intended to strengthen their role in safeguarding the forest.
The initiative is part of the Project to Support the Sustainable Management of State Forests (AGEDUFORD-Togo), itself included in the Support Program for Climate Action, Biodiversity Protection and Agroecology (PALCC+). The program is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources through the Forest Development and Management Office (ODEF).
The development of the Tchorogo management plan aligns with the national strategy to preserve vegetation cover and protect the environment. Other protected forests, such as Missahöhe in Kloto prefecture, already have approved management plans.
Togo is also pursuing several initiatives to preserve ecosystems, including a national effort to plant one billion trees by 2030 to combat deforestation and climate change.
Esaïe Edoh
Togo Digitizes Nationality Renunciation and Reinstatement Services
Togo’s Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has added three new services to the national public services platform as part of its ongoing digital transformation. The new online processes cover renouncing Togolese nationality, applying for reinstatement of nationality, and requesting a change of surname or given name.
Users can now submit applications, track their cases, and receive decisions online without having to visit an office. The ministry says the move supports the government’s strategy to modernize public administration and expand digital services across sectors.
These additions build on the ministry’s existing online offerings, including applications for certificates of nationality.
The update comes as several public institutions continue their digital shift, in line with the government’s digitalization agenda. Togo’s Postal Service recently digitized the application process for post office boxes, which can now be requested through the national public services portal.
R.E.D.