The economy of Togo is controlled by subsistence and commercial agriculture. Mineral products are a major source of foreign exchange. In 1991 the national budget included $284 million in revenues and $407 million in expenditures. Phosphate is the major mineral resource and by far the nation's leading export item. The deposits at Hahoetoé and Kpogamé, directly northeast of Lomé, are mined by the government's Togolese Office of Phosphates. Togo is one of the world's largest phosphate producers. Marble is quarried by Sotoma (Société Togolaise de Marbres et de Matériaux), a mixed-economy company with shares held by the Togolese government and an Italian firm. Togo's considerable limestone reserves, also mined near Lomé, are utilized primarily for cement production.
To promote private investment, the Investment Code of 1965 guaranteed foreign investors the right of freely transferring abroad all investment capital and income. The code also provided for tax benefits for priority enterprises. The trend in the 1970s of direct state involvement in the economy changed in the early 1980s to a pattern of offering incentives for foreign investment and privatization of state enterprises.
Indirect taxes, almost entirely on imports and exports, account for most of the government's ordinary budget revenues. Direct taxes consist of an income tax, a progressive tax on all profits, taxes on wages paid by employers, a tax on rental values and land, and head taxes.
This small sub-Saharan economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Some basic foodstuffs must still be imported. Together, cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate some 40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most remarkable cash crop contempt falling prices on the world market.Togo is the world's fourth largest producer, and geological advantages keep production costs low. The newly privatized mining operation, Office Togolais des Phosphates (OTP), is slowly recovering from a steep fall in prices in the early 1990's, but continues to face the challenge of tough foreign competition, exacerbated by weakening demand. Togo serves as a regional commercial and trade center. It continues to expand its duty-free export-processing zone (EPZ), launched in 1989, which has attracted enterprises from France, Italy, Scandinavia, the US, India, and China and created jobs for Togolese nationals. The government's decade-long effort, supported by the World Bank and the IMF, to implement economic reform measures, promote foreign investment, and bring revenues in line with expenditures has stalled. Progress depends on following through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress towards legislative elections, and possible downsizing of the military, on which the regime has depended to stay in place. deficiency of foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to constrain economic growth; Togo did realize a 3% gain in GDP in 1999. The takeover of the national power company by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 should ease the energy crisis and if successful legislative elections pave the way for increased aid, growth should rise to 5% a year in 2001-02.
During the 1970s the Togolese government undertook a campaign to offer free education for all children between the ages of 2 and 15. In 1996 nearly all primary school-aged children attended school, but only 27 % of secondary school-aged students were listed. In the 1996 school year 859,600 pupils were listed in primary schools, and 178,300 students were listed in secondary schools. Missionary schools remain valuable in the nation, educating about half the pupils. around 13,100 students were listed in 1996-1997 at the University of Benin.
Togo was governed as a single-party republic from 1969 until 1991; that year, the president allowed opposition parties to form, and in 1992 a new constitution officially accomplished the nation as a multiparty democracy.
Togo’s transition to democracy is stalled. Its democratic institutions remain nascent and fragile. President Eyadema, who has governed Togo under a one-party system for nearly 25 of his 37 years in power, remains the dominant political figure and controls the security forces.
The Togolese judiciary is modeled on the French system. For administrative purposes, Togo is separated into 30 prefectures, each having an appointed prefect.
The 1992 constitution vests administrator power in a president who is popularly elected to a five-year term. Legislative power is exercised by the unicameral (single-chamber) National Assembly; its 81 members serve five-year terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president from among the majority in the legislature.
The Ewes moved into the area which is now Togo from the Niger River valley between the 12th and 14th centuries. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese explorers and traders visited the coast. For the next 200 years, the coastal region was a major raiding center for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast." In an 1884 treaty signed at Togoville, Germany declared a protectorate over a stretch of territory along the coast and gradually extended its control inland. Because it became Germany's only self-supporting colony, Togoland was known as its model possession. In 1914, Togoland was invaded by French and British forces and fell after brief resistance. Following the war, Togoland became a League of Nations mandate separated for administrative purposes between France and the United Kingdom.
In May 2002 the government scrapped CENI, blaming the opposition for its inability to function. In its stead, the government appointed seven magistrates to oversee preparations for legislative elections. Not surprisingly, the opposition announced it would boycott them. Held in October, as a result of the opposition’s boycott the government party won more than two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly. In December 2002, Eyadema’s government used this rubber-stamp parliament to amend Togo’s constitution, allowing President Eyadema to run for an “unlimited” number of terms. A further amendment stated that candidates must reside in the nation for at least 12 months before an election, a provision that barred the participation in the upcoming presidential election of popular Union des Forces du Progres (UFC) candidate, Gilchrist Olympio, who had been in exile since 1992. The presidential election was held June 1. President Eyadema was re-elected with 57% of the votes, amid allegations of widespread vote rigging.
Togo, republic, west Africa, bordered on the north by Burkina Faso, on the east by Benin, on the south by the Gulf of Guinea (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean), and on the west by Ghana. Togo extends about 550 km (340 mi) in a northern-southern direction and ranges from about 40 to 130 km (25 to 80 mi) in width. The nation has an area of 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi). The capital of Togo is Lomé.
Official Name - Togolese Republic
Capital City - Lomé
Languages- French (official), and local languages
Official Currency- CFA Franc
Religions- orthodox beliefs, Muslim, Christian
Population- 5,084,000
Land Area- 54,390 sq km (21,000 sq miles)
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French is the official language of Togo and is used in administration and commerce. Ewe and Kabiyé are the principal African languages and are used along with French in the schools. About 50 % of the people are adherents of orthodox religions; 35 % of the population is Christian, and 15 % is Muslim.
The population of Togo (2001 estimate) is 5,153,088, giving the nation an overall population density of 91 persons per sq km (235 per sq mi). The majority of the people are farmers or pastoralists and live in small villages. The capital and principal city, Lomé (population, 1997 estimate, 700,000), is also the leading port. Other towns include Sokodé (1997 estimate, 51,000) and Kpalimé (30,000).
International organization Member
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
The population of Togo comprises about 30 ethnic groups, many of whom are immigrants from other parts of western Africa. The groups indigenous to Togo live in the north and southwest. The northern groups include the following Gur-speaking Voltaic peoples: the Gurma; the Natemba, Dye, Bu-Bankam, Bu-Kombong, and Konkomba; the Tamberma; the Basari; the Moba; the Naudemba; the Kabre and Logba; and the Namba;a small number of West Atlantic-speaking Fulani; and the Kebu.In the southwest the indigenous Kwa peoples also belonging to the central Togo group are the Akposo, the Adele, and the Ahlo.
Most of the southern peoples use the Ewe or Mina languages, which are closely related and spoken in commercial sectors throughout Togo. French, the official language, is used in administration and documentation. The public primary schools combine French with Ewe or Kabye as languages of instruction, depending on the region. English is spoken in neighboring Ghana and is taught in Togolese secondary schools. As a result, many Togolese, particularly in the south and along the Ghana border, speak some English.
Action Committee for Renewal or CAR [Yawovi AGBOYIBO]; Coordination des Forces Nouvelles or CFN [Joseph KOFFIGOH]; Democratic Convention of African Peoples or CDPA [Leopold GNININVI]; Party for Democracy and Renewal or PDR [Zarifou AYEVA]; Patriotic Pan-African Convergence or CPP [Edem KODJO]; Rally of the Togolese People or RPT [President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA]; Union of Forces for Change or UFC [Gilchrist OLYMPIO (in exile), Jeane-Pierre FABRE, general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI [Jacques AMOUZO]
5 regions (regions, singular - region); De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Du Centre, Maritime
