Togo

/taw"gaw/, n.

1. Heihachiro /hay"hah chee"rddaw/, Marquis 1847-1934, Japanese admiral.

2. Shigenori /shee"ge naw"rddee/, 1882-1950, Japanese political leader and diplomat.

/toh"goh/, n.

Republic of, an independent country in W Africa: formerly a French mandate 1922-46 and trusteeship 1946-60 in E Togoland. 4,735,610; 21,830 sq. mi. (56,540 sq. km). Cap.: Lomé.

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Togo

Introduction Togo -
Background: French Togoland became Togo in 1960. General Gnassingbe EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, is Africa's longest-serving head of state. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government continues to be dominated by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967. In addition, Togo has come under fire from international organizations for human rights abuses and is plagued by political unrest. Most bilateral and multilateral aid to Togo remains frozen. Geography Togo
Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Benin and Ghana
Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 1 10 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 56,785 sq km water: 2,400 sq km land: 54,385 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: total: 1,647 km border countries: Benin 644 km, Burkina Faso 126 km, Ghana 877 km
Coastline: 56 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 30 NM
Climate: tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north
Terrain: gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Agou 986 m
Natural resources: phosphates, limestone, marble, arable land
Land use: arable land: 41.37% permanent crops: 1.84% other: 56.79% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 70 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; periodic droughts Environment - current issues: deforestation attributable to slash- and-burn agriculture and the use of wood for fuel; water pollution presents health hazards and hinders the fishing industry; air pollution increasing in urban areas Environment - international party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: the country's length allows it to stretch through six distinct geographic regions; climate varies from tropical to savanna People Togo -
Population: 5,285,501 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 45.1% (male 1,195,052; female 1,187,014) 15-64 years: 52.4% (male 1,351,345; female 1,420,617) 65 years and over: 2.5% (male 56,270; female 75,203) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.48% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 36.11 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 11.3 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/ female total population: 0.97 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 69.32 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 54.02 years female: 56.07 years (2002 est.) male: 52.03 years
Total fertility rate: 5.14 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 5.98% (1999 est.) HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 130,000 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 14,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Togolese (singular and plural) adjective: Togolese
Ethnic groups: native African (37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabre) 99%, European and Syrian- Lebanese less than 1%
Religions: indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 29%, Muslim 20%
Languages: French (official and the language of commerce), Ewe and Mina (the two major African languages in the south), Kabye (sometimes spelled Kabiye) and Dagomba (the two major African languages in the north)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 51.7% male: 67% female: 37% (1995 est.) Government Togo -
Country name: conventional long form: Togolese Republic conventional short form: Togo local short form: none former: French Togoland local long form: Republique Togolaise
Government type: republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule
Capital: Lome Administrative divisions: 5 regions (regions, singular - region); De La Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Centrale, Maritime
Independence: 27 April 1960 (from French- administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday: Independence Day, 27 April (1960)
Constitution: multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992
Legal system: French-based court system
Suffrage: NA years of age; universal adult
Executive branch: chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967) head of government: Prime Minister Agbeyome KODJO (since 29 August 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president and the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1998 (next to be held NA 2003); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Gnassingbe EYADEMA reelected president; percent of vote - Gnassingbe EYADEMA 52.13%, Gilchrist OLYMPIO 34.12%, other 13.75%
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 21 March 1999 (next was tentatively scheduled for March 2002, however, it was postponed with no new date given) note: Togo's main opposition parties boycotted the election because of EYADEMA's alleged manipulation of 1998 presidential polling; in March of 1999, opposition parties entered into negotiations with the president over the establishment of an independent electoral commission and a new round of legislative elections election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPT 79, independents 2
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme Political parties and leaders: 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), Jean Pierre FABRE, general secretary in Togo]; Union of Independent Liberals or ULI [Jacques AMOUZOU] note: Rally of the Togolese People or RPT, led by President EYADEMA, was the only party until the formation of multiple parties was legalized 12 April 1991 Political pressure groups and NA
leaders: International organization ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS,
participation: Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIPONUH, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Akoussoulelou BODJONA FAX: [1] [phone] telephone: [1] [phone] chancery: 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador Karl
US: HOFMANN embassy: Angle Rue Kouenou and Rue 15 Beniglato, Lome mailing address: B. P. 852, Lome telephone: [228] 221 29 91 through 221 29 94 FAX: [228] 221 79 52
Flag description: five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow; there is a white five- pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia Economy Togo
Economy - overview: 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. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton generate about 40% of export earnings, with cotton being the most significant cash crop despite falling prices on the world market. Political unrest, including private and public sector strikes throughout 1992 and 1993, jeopardized the reform program, shrunk the tax base, and disrupted vital economic activity. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of the XOF currency by 50% provided an important impetus to renewed structural adjustment. In the industrial sector, phosphate mining is by far the most important activity. Togo is the world's fourth largest producer, and geological advantages keep production costs low. The recently 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, encourage 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. Lack of large-scale foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector, energy shortages, and depressed commodity prices continue to constrain economic growth. The takeover of the national power company by a Franco-Canadian consortium in 2000 should ease the energy crisis.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.6 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.2% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42% industry: 21% services: 37% (2001 est.) Population below poverty line: 32% (1989 est.) Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 1.74 million (1996) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues: $232 million expenditures: $252 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries: phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement; handicrafts, textiles, beverages Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity - production: 97 million kWh (2000) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 97.94% other: 0% (2000) hydro: 2.06% nuclear: 0% Electricity - consumption: 525.21 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 435 million kWh note: electricity supplied by Ghana (2000)
Agriculture - products: coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum; livestock; fish
Exports: $306 million (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: cotton, phosphates, coffee, cocoa
Exports - partners: Benin 12%, Nigeria 9%, Belgium 5%, Ghana 4% (2000)
Imports: $420 million (f.o.b., 2001)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products
Imports - partners: Ghana 26%, France 11%, China 7%, Cote d'Ivoire 7% (2000)
Debt - external: $1.5 billion (1999) Economic aid - recipient: $201.1 million (1995)
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code: XOF
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 741.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro
Fiscal year: calendar year Communications Togo - Telephones - main lines in use: 25,000 (1997) Telephones - mobile cellular: 2,995 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: fair system based on a network of microwave radio relay routes supplemented by open-wire lines and a mobile cellular system domestic: microwave radio relay and open-wire lines for conventional system; cellular system has capacity of 10,000 telephones international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Symphonie Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (1998)
Radios: 940,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus two repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 73,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .tg Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (2001)
Internet users: 20,000 (2001) Transportation Togo -
Railways: total: 525 km narrow gauge: 525 km 1.000-m gauge (2001)
Highways: total: 7,520 km paved: 2,376 km unpaved: 5,144 km (1996)
Waterways: 50 km (Mono river)
Ports and harbors: Kpeme, Lome
Merchant marine: total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,603 GRT/2,800 DWT ships by type: specialized tanker 1 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Greece 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 9 (2001) Airports - with paved runways: total: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2001) Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 2 (2001) Military Togo -
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,220,758 (2002 est.) Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 640,280 (2002 est.)
service: Military expenditures - dollar $21.9 million (FY01)
figure: Military expenditures - percent of 1.8% (FY01)
GDP: Transnational Issues Togo - Disputes - international: Benin accuses Togo of moving boundary markers and stationing troops in its territory
Illicit drugs: transit hub for Nigerian heroin and cocaine traffickers

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officially Republic of Togo

Republic, western Africa.

Area: 21,925 sq mi (56,785 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 5,286,000. Capital: Lomé. It has some 30 ethnic groups; the Ewe are the largest. Languages: French (official), Ewe, other indigenous languages. Religions: Christianity, Islam, traditional beliefs. Currency: CFA franc. Togo occupies a strip of land about 70 mi (113 km) wide that extends about 340 mi (545 km) inland from the Gulf of Guinea. Regions include a swampy coastal plain, a northern savanna, and a central mountain range. The developing economy is based largely on agriculture. Chief crops are cotton, coffee, cocoa, cassava, and copra. It is one of the world's leading producers of phosphates, and cement and petroleum refining are also important. Togo is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, supported by the military, and the head of government is the prime minister. Until 1884 what is now Togo was an intermediate zone between the states of Asante and Dahomey, and its various ethnic groups lived in general isolation from each other. In 1884 it became part of the Togoland German protectorate, which was occupied by British and French forces in 1914. In 1922 the League of Nations assigned eastern Togoland to France and the western portion to Britain. In 1946 the British and French governments placed the territories under UN trusteeship. Ten years later British Togoland was incorporated into the Gold Coast and French Togoland became an autonomous republic within the French Union. Togo gained independence in 1960. It suspended its constitution 1967–80. A multiparty constitution was approved in 1992, but into the 21st century the political situation remained unstable.

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▪ 2009

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2008 est.): 6,762,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Faure Gnassingbé, assisted by Prime Ministers Komlan Mally and, from September 8, Gilbert Houngbo

      Togo returned to favour among international donors in 2008. The African Development Bank, France, Germany, the EU, UNICEF, and the World Bank granted substantial sums for economic and social projects. On October 4, the European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, congratulated the government for the progress it had made over the previous three years, calling Togo an example for the rest of Africa.

      On April 15 Pres. Faure Gnassingbé took the first steps to establish a truth and reconciliation commission that was to investigate the political violence of recent years, in particular that surrounding the 2005 presidential election. On September 26 the UN reported that nearly 23,000 people had responded to a survey on how best to design the commission.

      On August 6, UN and African Union representatives remarked on the human rights improvements Togo had made over the previous few years but observed that much more needed to be done. Togolese rights activists still faced major obstacles in bringing abuses to light.

      Torrential rains in July and August caused massive floods that displaced thousands of people and destroyed a number of bridges, virtually cutting Lomé off from the rest of Togo. After an outbreak of avian flu on September 9, authorities took swift action to cull an estimated 17,000 poultry. In other news, Benjamin Boukpeti won Togo's first-ever Olympic medal at the Beijing Olympic Games; he took the bronze in the men's kayak slalom.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2008

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2007 est.): 6,585,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Faure Gnassingbé

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Yawovi Agboyibo and, from December 6, Komlan Mally

      In May 2007 the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that it would close the camps that had been established in neighbouring countries to care for the estimated 25,000 refugees who in 2005 had fled violence in Togo in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. The UNHCR advised the refugees to return home, but the extent to which they were doing so was unclear.

      Sports Minister Richard Attipoe and journalist Olive Amouzou were among 19 killed in a helicopter crash in Sierra Leone on June 3. They were on their way to Freetown Airport following Togo's victory over Sierra Leone in an association football (soccer) qualifying match for the African Cup.

      In August the severe floods that hit much of West Africa left more than 20,000 homeless in Togo. As a result, the opening of the school year was postponed for several weeks because many of the classrooms were requisitioned as shelters. The European Union pledged €2 million (about $2.7 million) to assist flood victims in Togo, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.

 The October 14 legislative elections gave the ruling party of Pres. Faure Gnassingbé a clear majority (50 of the 81 contested seats) in the National Assembly; the main opposition party, led by Gilchrist Olympio, won 27 seats. More than 2,000 candidates stood for election in a poll that was postponed twice by disputes over the distribution of voting cards. The turnout (at 95%) was one of the highest in Togo's history.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2007

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2006 est.): 5,549,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Faure Gnassingbé

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Edem Kodjo and, from September 20, Yawovi Agboyibo

      Struggles to resolve conflicts arising from the disputed May 2005 presidential election dominated political life in Togo during 2006. Still fearing reprisals, few of the estimated 40,000 Togolese who fled the country after Faure Gnassingbé was elected president had returned from their self-imposed exile. More than 20,000 remained in refugee camps in Benin. In general, progress was evident: civil servants received their wages regularly; much of the damage in Lomé caused by rioting in 2005 had been repaired; roads were resurfaced; and many large construction projects had begun. On April 25 Gnassingbé officially opened the new presidential palace, built and financed by China. The press was relatively free, and opposition leaders had access to the state-run television and radio networks.

      On August 20, after months of negotiations, President Gnassingbé and representatives of six opposition parties signed a pact designed to end the country's political crisis. A transitional government was to be created, and it would include opposition party deputies. Among the signatories to the accord was Gilchrist Olympio, son of Togo's first president. Four days later, on August 24, the European Union announced the resumption of its cooperation with Togo. This followed a 13-year rupture and resulted in the release of $20 million for rural development. The EU cautioned, however, that continued aid would depend on the implementation of the August 20 agreement, in particular the establishment of an electoral calendar. Gen. Zakari Nandja, chief of staff of the Togolese armed forces, promised the full support of the military in implementing the pact. On September 7 Gnassingbé announced that legislative elections would be held in June 2007.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2006

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2005 est.): 5,400,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

Presidents Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Faure Gnassingbé from February 5 (acting from February 21), Abass Bonfoh (acting) from February 25, and, from May 4, Gnassingbé

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Koffi Sama and, from June 9, Edem Kodjo

      Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Eyadema, Gnassingbe ), Africa's longest-serving ruler, died of a heart attack on Feb. 5, 2005 (see Obituaries), ending 38 years of near total control of Togo. Within hours army chiefs overrode the constitution by naming Faure Gnassingbé (Gnassingbe, Faure ) (see Biographies), the president's son, as successor. The parliament, dominated by Eyadéma's party, moved to legalize the takeover by passing a retroactive constitutional amendment the next day. The son was officially sworn in on February 7, amid protests from the international community and opposition parties. The African Union described the actions as a “military coup.” A two-day general strike called by opposition parties to protest Gnassingbé's accession was only partially successful. Subsequent riots and demonstrations in the capital, however, and pressure by the African Union, the United Nations, individual African leaders, and Western donors forced the new president to agree to hold elections. On February 21 the parliament rescinded its amendment and reinstated the old constitution, which contained the provision that elections were to be held within 60 days of the death of a sitting president. Further pressure forced Gnassingbé to resign three weeks after his inauguration, but he announced that he would be a candidate in the election then scheduled for April 24.

 Togo's opposition parties formed an election coalition and, on March 15, named 75-year old Emmanuel Bob-Akitani as their sole candidate. Scattered violence in Lomé and other urban centres disrupted the campaign throughout much of April as fears of poll-rigging grew. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in violent street fighting throughout the campaign. More disturbances erupted after the Constitutional Court threw out opposition protests of voting irregularities and declared Faure Gnassingbé the victor with 60% of the vote. Fearing reprisals from the new government, at least 30,000 Togolese fled into Benin and Ghana.

      On June 9 Gnassingbé appointed Edem Kodjo prime minister. Kodjo, although a member of the opposition coalition, had been prime minister under Eyadéma in the mid-1990s. On June 20 the prime minister announced his 30-member cabinet, most of whom were close allies of Gnassingbé. Kpatcha Gnassingbé, the president's older brother, was appointed to the key post of defense minister.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2005

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2004 est.): 5,557,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Head of government:

Prime Minister Koffi Sama

      Efforts to regain assistance from the European Union (EU)—which had stopped all aid in 1993 after citing Togo's undemocratic regime and its record of human rights abuses—dominated Togo's political agenda for 2004. In April, Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma ordered his ministers to promote political freedom. All parties were invited to participate in a national dialogue that was officially opened by Eyadéma on May 27, just six days before an expected visit by an EU delegation. Further evidence of the president's desire to normalize relations with major international donors was provided when exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio—son of Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio—was finally granted a passport on July 28.

      On August 24 the National Assembly amended the nation's press code. Among other changes, prison terms were abolished for journalists convicted of defaming the government. Although the opposition welcomed the reforms, relations soon deteriorated when the government denounced the private press for continuing to attack the regime. On October 12 two human rights organizations, the International Federation of the Rights of Man and Reporters Without Borders, accused the government of having initiated death threats against journalist Jean-Baptiste Dzilan.

      Though Justice Minister Foli Bazi-Katare had stated on May 17 that Togo had no political detainees, on August 18 Eyadéma pardoned some 500 prisoners, including 7 opposition party members. On September 7, pardons were issued for 14 University of Lomé students who had been imprisoned for their role in a series of protests over grants and living conditions. The demonstrations had resulted in the closure of the university on May 2; though the university reopened on May 27, students boycotted their exams as a further protest.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2004

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2003 est.): 5,429,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Head of government:

Prime Minister Koffi Sama

      After having paved the way on Dec. 30, 2002, for Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Africa's longest-serving ruler) to seek a third five-year presidential mandate, Togo's parliament further strengthened Eyadéma's position in February 2003 by shifting the responsibility for organizing and conducting elections from the Independent National Elections Commission to the Ministry of the Interior. Eyadéma's party, the Rally of the Togolese People, held 72 of the 81 legislative seats. After Gilchrist Olympio, leader of the opposition Union for the Forces of Change (UFC), was barred from standing as a presidential candidate on the grounds that he did not possess a residency certificate or pay Togolese taxes, Eyadéma won reelection easily in the June 1 poll. Two UFC leaders were jailed on charges of having encouraged rebellion when, amid widespread allegations of fraud, violent protests broke out in the capital after the elections. Three journalists who had been investigating the conduct of the poll were arrested on June 14 and 15. Their hunger strike led to their release in July. Though Eyadéma pledged on July 9 to form a united national government, only two opposition deputies were given posts in the cabinet announced on July 29.

      Togo was to receive $2 million from CARE International to provide schooling both for potential victims of child trafficking in West Africa and for those children who had been rescued from servitude in neighbouring countries. On July 3 France agreed to provide more than 4 billion CFA francs (about $7 million) for education in the northern Kara region, the region of Eyadéma's home district.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2003

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2002 est.): 5,286,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Gabriel Agbéyomé Kodjo and, from June 29, Koffi Sama

      Modifications to Togo's electoral code were introduced early in 2002. These included new residency requirements and exclusive Togolese nationality for all candidates, measures clearly designed to prevent participation in the political process of certain high-profile opponents of the regime, most notably the exile Gilchrist Olympio. National and international protests over these changes to the code—which were approved by the National Assembly on February 8—led to the cancellation of the March 10 legislative elections. Opposition party members refused to sit on the reconstituted National Electoral Commission, which was reduced to 10 members—half of whom represented the ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT).

      On June 27 Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma fired Prime Minister Agbéyomé Kodjo. Kodjo fled the country immediately afterward. On August 7 he was ousted from the RPT, and on September 17 the government issued an international warrant for his arrest. Major opposition parties boycotted the legislative elections, held on October 27. As a result, the RPT took 72 of the 81 seats.

      The government issued a statement on August 15 strongly protesting allegations brought by Amnesty International that it engaged in systematic repression of political opponents. On October 22 a delegation of Togolese officials testified before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, denying such abuses as torture, extrajudicial executions, and illegal detention of prisoners.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2002

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2001 est.): 5,153,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Head of government:

Prime Minister Gabriel Agbéyomé Kodjo

      On Jan. 30, 2001, after months of negotiations, the government announced plans to hold new parliamentary elections on October 14. In 1999 opposition parties had charged the government with fraud (following the disputed 1998 presidential election) and boycotted the parliamentary elections. On February 23 the findings of a joint Organization of African Unity–UN report on the conduct of the 1998 presidential election revealed that the government had systematically violated human rights. Fearing that the newly announced elections would be postponed, thousands of supporters of the main opposition party, the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), took to the streets of the capital the following day in protest. Police, using tear gas and truncheons, broke up the demonstration.

      On June 5 senior journalist Lucien Messan was convicted of having published “falsehoods” about alleged killings that took place during the 1998 presidential election campaign. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

      Further controversy erupted in August when CAR leader Yawovi Agboyibo was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for having defamed Prime Minister Gabriel Abéyomé Kodjo. On August 11 riot police dispersed a large demonstration demanding Agboyibo's release. A proposed constitutional amendment that would enable President Eyadéma to stand for a third five-year term in 2003 brought new protests and threats of strong action from the opposition to prevent Africa's longest-serving leader (34 years) from extending his tenure. On August 31 Eyadéma announced that he would respect the constitution and step down at the end of his term. Nevertheless, on October 5 the electoral commission, citing insufficient time for preparation, announced that legislative elections would be postponed. The government seized issues of independent newspapers several times during the year.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2001

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(2000 est.): 5,019,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Eugene Koffi Adoboli until August 27 and, from August 31, Gabriel Agbéyomé Kodjo

      The government of Togo took new action to limit press freedom on Jan. 4, 2000, by enacting an additional restrictive law. Henceforth, any insult to the head of state might incur up to six months' imprisonment and a maximum fine of $3,100. Journalists guilty of publishing what the government regarded as false information or defamation could be sentenced to three months and a $1,600 fine. Security forces prevented Togo's main opposition party, the Union of Forces of Change, from holding a protest march on January 13.

      Prime Minister Eugene Adoboli lost a vote of confidence in the National Assembly on August 25 when representatives refused to accept his explanations for the government's failure to improve education, health services, water supplies, and the country's internal transport system and also to settle the question of salary arrears. Civil servants were owed up to eight months' worth of back pay. Adoboli resigned on August 27, and Pres. Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma appointed Gabriel Agbéyomé Kodjo, speaker of the National Assembly, to be the new prime minister.

      Eyadéma was implicated in a UN report in March for violating sanctions against providing arms and fuel to Angolan rebels. Nevertheless, on September 25 the Organization of African Unity asked him to try to reconcile the conflicting political factions in Côte d'Ivoire, and on October 2 the OAU commissioned him to mediate the growing crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 2000

Area:

56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

Population

(1999 est.): 5,081,000

Capital:

Lomé

Chief of state:

President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

Head of government:

Prime Ministers Kwassi Klutse and, from May 21, Eugene Koffi Adoboli

      The political crisis arising out of Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma's disputed victory in the 1998 presidential elections deepened during 1999. Major opposition parties and their supporters boycotted the parliamentary elections on March 21. As a result, 79 of the 81 seats went to the ruling Rally of the Togolese People, with many candidates running unopposed. On May 21 Eyadema chose Eugene Koffi Adoboli as prime minister.

      In early May an Amnesty International report accused the government of having killed hundreds of opposition supporters during the period surrounding the presidential elections. Some 3,000 demonstrators marched through the capital demanding an investigation into the allegations. The government denied the charges and threatened to sue Amnesty International. A delegation from that organization that had hoped to meet with Eyadéma was denied entry into the country.

      After months of negotiations, reconciliation talks between the government and representatives of the main opposition finally opened in Paris on June 9. No substantive agreement was reached. In mid-July a second round of talks began in Lomé but without the presence of Gilchrist Olympio's Union of Forces of Change (UFC) and other opposition parties. Olympio, who lived abroad, refused to enter Togo on grounds of insufficient security. The other parties returned to the table on September 30 and agreed to a compromise solution on the question of the announcement of electoral results. The UFC, however, continued to boycott the sessions.

      Following meetings between Eyadéma and representatives of rebel militias, Togo was chosen as the venue for peace talks to end the eight-year-old civil war in Sierra Leone. A peace agreement was signed in Lomé on July 7.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

▪ 1999

      Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

      Population (1998 est.): 4,906,000

      Capital: Lomé

      Chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadema

      Head of government: Prime Minister Kwassi Klutse

      Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadema, Africa's longest-serving head of state (31 years), was returned to office in the presidential election on June 21, 1998. Defeating five opposition candidates, including Gilchrist Olympio, son of Togo's assassinated first president, Eyadema took 52% of the vote. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets on election day to protest being left off the electoral rolls, and international observers expressed serious doubts about the conduct of the election. On June 24 five members of the independent National Election Commission, including its head, resigned in protest against being intimidated and persecuted following the election. Security forces killed one man and injured three in a violent confrontation with opposition supporters on June 26 in Afagnan. Despite a government ban on street demonstrations, opposition parties began a new series of protests on July 4.

      Eyadema took the oath of office on July 24 for what would be, under the new constitution, his final term. On September 2 Prime Minister Kwassi Klutse named a new 27-member Cabinet. Opposition parties refused to accept all offers of portfolios in the new government.

      The economy was buoyed by a 33% increase in phosphate exports and a record cotton crop. In April Nigeria agreed to alleviate Togo's perennial energy shortage by providing half of the country's daily electricity needs.

NANCY ELLEN LAWLER

▪ 1998

      Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi)

      Population (1997 est.): 4,736,000

      Capital: Lomé

      Chief of state: President Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma

      Head of government: Prime Minister Klutse Kwassi

      Togo played an active role in inter-African relations during 1997. In February Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma called for an emergency Organization of African Unity summit to deal with the crisis in Zaire. This followed the government's denial in January that Togolese mercenaries were serving with the forces of Zairean Pres. Mobutu Sese Seko. In March the army participated in military exercises with Benin and Burkina Faso. The West African Economic and Monetary Union, consisting of seven French-speaking West African countries, met in Lomé on June 23. In a joint statement, they condemned the May 25 military coup in Sierra Leone and demanded a return to constitutional rule in that nation.

      Political activity centred on preparations for the April 1998 presidential elections. In July leaders of the three main opposition parties—the Action Committee for Renewal, the Union of Forces of Change, and the Party for Democracy and Renewal—agreed to unite and choose a single candidate to run against Eyadéma. In October about 500 opposition party members marched through Lomé and accused the government of planning to fix the election.

      Togo's cocoa and coffee exports increased by 200% for the 1996-97 season. The European Union agreed to provide $30 million in aid to assist government projects in the areas of health care, education, culture, and the construction of rural roads.

NANCY ELLEN LAWLER

      This article updates Togo, history of (Togo).

▪ 1997

      A republic of West Africa, Togo is situated on the Bight of Benin. Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 4,269,000. Cap.: Lomé. Monetary unit: CFA franc, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a par value of CFAF 100 to the French franc and a free rate of CFAF 518.24 to U.S. $1 (CFAF 816.38 = £ 1 sterling). President in 1996, Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma; prime ministers, Edem Kodjo and, from August 20, Klutse Kwassi.

      Prime Minister Edem Kodjo in 1996 continued his struggle to get legislation through the National Assembly. On January 3, 34 deputies from the opposition party, Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), joined 37 deputies from Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma's Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) in rejecting the 1996 budget for the second time in 15 days. Only the six members of Kodjo's Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD) voted for the measure. The CAR/RPT alliance proved temporary, for in late February 30 RPT deputies joined the 6 from UTD and passed the budget.

      By July defections from CAR to the RPT had given the presidential party and its three allied independents a parliamentary majority in the 81-member Assembly, its first since the February 1994 legislative elections. In August CAR boycotted by-elections for three seats, the 1994 results of which had been annulled by the Supreme Court. All were won by the RPT. On August 19 Kodjo resigned. The next day Eyadéma named the minister of planning, Klutse Kwassi of the RPT, the new prime minister. (NANCY ELLEN LAWLER)

      This article updates Togo, history of (Togo).

▪ 1996

      A republic of West Africa, Togo is situated on the Bight of Benin. Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi). Pop. (1995 est.): 4,138,000. Cap.: Lomé. Monetary unit: CFA franc, with (Oct. 6, 1995) a par value of CFAF 100 to the French franc and a free rate of CFAF 501.49 to U.S. $1 (CFAF 792.78 = £ 1 sterling). President in 1995, Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma; prime minister, Edem Kodjo.

      In 1994 Yao Agboyibo, leader of the opposition Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), had announced a boycott of the legislature to protest voting irregularities in the February elections of that year. As a result, Togo's government remained virtually paralyzed for the first eight months of 1995. On April 26, the eve of Togo's independence day celebrations, Pres. Gnassingbé Eyadéma's call for reconciliation was ignored. The protracted boycott finally ended in late August, after the CAR received assurances from Eyadéma and Prime Minister Edem Kodjo that an independent electoral commission would be established for all future elections.

      Meeting with representatives of Amnesty International in March, Kodjo expressed regret over violations of human rights that had occurred during the turbulent years (1991-93) of Togo's transition to democracy. Full diplomatic relations with Ghana were restored in July, and Togo's first ambassador since 1982 was appointed.

      Citing improved political conditions, the European Union, after a three-year suspension, renewed aid to Togo in March. In July severe flooding in Lomé left an estimated 150,000 people homeless. Three weeks of heavy rains during September brought massive destruction to entire villages, roads, and bridges, especially in the northern and central regions. At least 21,000 more people lost their homes. Despite these disasters, the economy showed overall improvement during the year. Agricultural production grew, Lomé's port traffic revived, government revenues rose by 96%, and civil service salaries were paid regularly.

      (NANCY ELLEN LAWLER)

      This updates the article Togo, history of (Togo).

▪ 1995

      A republic of West Africa, Togo is situated on the Bight of Benin. Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 3,922,000. Cap.: Lomé. Monetary unit: CFA franc, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a par value of CFAF 100 to the French franc and a free rate of CFAF 526.67 to U.S. $1 (CFAF 837.67 = £ 1 sterling). President in 1994, Gen. Gnassingbé Eyadéma; prime ministers, Joseph Kokou Koffigoh until March 21 and, from April 23, Edem Kodjo.

      Gnassingbé Eyadéma's presidency survived another turbulent year in 1994. On the evening of January 5, approximately 100 armed men, possibly former commandos dismissed from the army in Eyadéma's 1993 purge, attacked the Toikin army barracks, where the president resided. The ensuing struggle with soldiers loyal to Eyadéma resulted in 67 deaths and dozens of injuries. The government accused the opposition of instigating the attack, which it regarded as an attempted coup.

      After several postponements, elections to the national legislature were finally held on February 6 and 20. French observers were brought in to ensure the army's neutrality. Although the voting was generally calm and the elections judged to be fairly conducted, the process was overshadowed first by the abduction and murder of three opposition leaders, then by the firebombing of Eyadéma's ally, Communications Minister Benjamin Agbeka, and finally by the murder of Gaston Edeh, one of only 19 deputies to receive an outright majority in the first round of the elections.

      Opposition parties won 43 of the 81 seats, but two months passed before Edem Kodjo was appointed prime minister by Eyadéma. Kodjo, however, was unable to form a coalition government until June 24. He allotted more than half the ministries to members of Eyadéma's Rally of the Togolese People and the pro-Eyadéma Union for Justice and Democracy. This led to bitter conflict, and in November members of the main opposition party, the Action Committee for Renewal, boycotted the legislature.

      (NANCY ELLEN LAWLER)

      This updates the article Togo, history of (Togo).

▪ 1994

      A republic of West Africa, Togo is situated on the Bight of Benin. Area: 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi). Pop. (1993 est.): 3,810,000. Cap.: Lomé. Monetary unit: CFA franc, with (Oct. 4, 1993) a par value of CFAF 50 to the French franc and a free rate of CFAF 283.25 to U.S. $1 (CFAF 429.12 = £ 1 sterling). President in 1993, Gen. Gnassingbe Eyadema; prime minister, Joseph Kokou Koffigoh.

      Pres. Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo began the year by first firing and then reappointing the increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Joseph Koffigoh. On January 25 police killed at least 20 demonstrators awaiting the arrival of the foreign ministers of France and Germany, who were to help restart the stalled democratization process. The European Community immediately suspended all aid. Five days later the army loyal to Eyadema rampaged through Lomé, attacking the homes of opposition leaders. France and the U.S. cut off all aid after negotiations to secure the army's neutrality in the electoral process broke off in February. At least 300,000 Togolese were refugees in Benin and Ghana.

      A failed military coup resulted in a purge of the army. In April and May the offices and presses of three opposition newspapers were destroyed. After several postponements and months of negotiations, the presidential elections were finally held on August 25. Five major opposition candidates withdrew. Only 36% of the electorate participated, but Eyadema received 96.5% of the votes cast. In November parliamentary elections were postponed until January 1994.

      (NANCY ELLEN LAWLER)

      This updates the article Togo, history of (Togo).

* * *

Introduction

officially  Republic of Togo , French  Togo , or  République Togolaise 

Togo, flag of country of western Africa. From its 32-mile (51-kilometre) coastline on the Gulf of Guinea, Togo extends northward for about 320 miles between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east to its boundary with Burkina Faso in the north. Lomé, the capital, is the largest city and port.

The land

Relief, drainage, and soils

 

       Togo consists of six geographic regions. The low-lying, sandy beaches of the narrow coastal region are backed by tidal flats and shallow lagoons, the largest of which is Lake Togo. Beyond the coast lies the Ouatchi Plateau, which stretches about 20 miles inland at an altitude of some 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 metres). This is the region of the so-called terre de barre, a lateritic (reddish, leached, iron-bearing) soil.

      Northeast of the plateau is a tableland, the highest altitudes reaching 1,300 to 1,500 feet. This region is drained by the Mono River and its tributaries, including the Ogou, and other smaller rivers. West and southwest of the tableland the terrain gradually rises toward the Togo Mountains, which run across central Togo from the south-southwest to the north-northeast. Part of a chain that begins in the Atakora Mountains of Benin, the range ends in the Akwapim Hills of Ghana. Mount Baumann (Baumann Peak) (Agou), which rises to about 3,235 feet (986 metres), is the highest mountain in Togo. Beyond the Togo Mountains to the north lies the Oti River sandstone plateau. This is a savanna region drained by the Oti River, one of the main tributaries of the Volta. To the far northwest is a higher region of granite and gneiss; the cliffs of Dapaong (Dapango) are located in this region.

Climate

      Togo has a tropical climate. In the south the rainy seasons occur from mid-April through June and from mid-September through October. The narrow coastal zone, which receives about 35 inches (890 millimetres) of rain annually, is the driest region. The region of Kpalimé (Palimé), about 65 miles inland, receives the highest amount of rain—about 70 inches annually. The north has only one rainy season with an average rainfall of about 45 inches, mostly falling from June to the end of September; during the rest of the year the warm, dry harmattan (a dust-laden wind) predominates. Mean annual temperatures vary from 79° F (26° C) along the coast and in the mountains to 82° F (28° C) on the northern plateau. Daily minimum temperatures of about 68° F (20° C) are recorded in the mountains in August. Daily maxima of about 100° F (38° C) occur in the north during March and April at the end of the long dry season.

Plant and animal life

      Savanna-type vegetation is predominant in Togo. On the southern plateaus large trees, including the baobab, are common, but they are rare in the north. The southwestern highland regions are covered with tropical forests, also found along the river valleys. The coastal zone is dotted with mangrove and reed swamps.

      Wild animals are not found in great numbers, especially in the southern and central regions. A few lions, leopards, and elephants can be seen in the north. Monkeys, snakes, and lizards are numerous in many areas, and crocodiles and hippopotamuses abound in the rivers. In the Keran Forest Reserve near Sansanné-Mango in the north, there are wild herds of buffalo, asses, warthogs, antelope, and deer. Numerous species of birds and insects are found in the country. Fish caught off the coast include mackerel, bass, seabream, red snapper, triggerfish, dorado, ray, and sole, while crustaceans include shrimp and lobster.

Settlement patterns

      The majority of Togo's population live in small villages scattered throughout the rural areas. A common sight along the coast is the rectangular houses built either of clay and timber or of coconut or palm branches and topped by double-eaved thatched roofs. Scattered throughout the coconut plantations, they are not far from the beaches. Inland in the south, thatched rectangular huts made of adobe are clustered around big trees and surrounded by earthen walls or fences made of palm branches. In the north, the traditional adobe or stone huts are circular and are topped by conical roofs or thatched turrets. They are usually gathered in units corresponding to family groups; often enclosed by earthen walls, they are sometimes interlinked. Distinctive of the northern Kara region is the high density of villages that stretch along the highway or climb up the slopes of the many hills.

       Lomé, the largest urban centre, is spread along the coast. At its centre, there is a mixture of old and new commercial and administrative buildings. The traditional housing unit is the big, walled compound composed of a group of isolated rooms, each opening onto a courtyard.

       Aného (Anécho), another coastal town, was once the country's leading European trade centre but is now declining. Other main towns include Tsévié and Tabligbo in the lowland plateau; Kpalimé, Atakpamé, Sokodé, Bassar (Bassari), and Kara (Lama-Kara) at the base of the Togo Mountains; and Sansanné-Mango (Mango) and Dapaong in the far north.

The people

      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 (Gur languages)-speaking Voltaic peoples: the Gurma; the Natimba, Dye, and Konkomba; the Tamberma; the Basari; the Moba; the Losso (Naudem); the Kabre and Logba; and the Lamba (Namba); a small number of Atlantic (Atlantic languages)-speaking Fulani; and the Kebu (Akebu). In the southwest the indigenous Kwa peoples also belonging to the central Togo group are the Kposo (Akposso), the Adele, and the Ahlo.

      The immigrants came from east, west, and north. The Ewe, who emigrated from Nigeria between the 14th and 16th century, form the major ethnic group. There are also some scattered Yoruba, mainly Ana. Groups who emigrated from present-day Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire since the 17th century include the Mina (Ga and Ané), the Ga-Dangme, the Kpelle and the Anyama, the Chakosi, and the Dagomba. The northern groups—the Kotokoli (or Temba), Gurma, and Mossi—entered mainly from Burkina Faso.

      Most of the nation's non-Africans live in Lomé. They are mainly French. Brazilians, or Portuguese of Brazilian birth, constituted the original trading settlement in Togo, and today African-Brazilians are closely associated with economic and political development.

      Although Christianity has profoundly marked the country, about half the population still adhere to traditional animistic beliefs and in the south participate in voudou (voodoo) cults. The main Protestant (Calvinistic) church has been governed for a long time by Togolese moderators. Since independence, the Roman Catholic church in Togo has been headed by a Togolese archbishop. There is also a growing Islamic population.

The economy

      To encourage 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.

      Unlike other former French territories, Togo has not extended preferential trade treatment to France and subsequently to the European Economic Community. This open-door, nondiscriminatory trade policy—together with the expanded production of phosphate and tropical produce—has contributed to the development of the economy.

Resources

      Phosphate is the major mineral resource and by far the country'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.

      Other mineral resources with commercial potential include iron ore, bauxite, uranium, chromite (an oxide of iron and chromium), gold, diamonds, rutile (titanium dioxide), manganese oxide, and kaolin (china clay). While the iron ore reserves are large, the metal content is only slightly more than 50 percent. The bauxite has a low mineral content.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

      The variety of soils and climates enables Togo to grow a wide range of products. Export crops include cocoa beans, coffee, shea nuts, cotton, and palm kernels; staple crops are corn (maize), cassava, rice, yams, sorghum, millet, and peanuts (groundnuts).

      Cattle, sheep, and pigs are raised in the plateau region and the north. Fishing is carried out on the coast and in the well-stocked inland rivers and ponds. Most of the catch is consumed locally. Forests, which cover about one-fourth of Togo's total area, are a source of tropical hardwoods and other products.

      A government agency, the Office of Agricultural Products of Togo, has a monopoly on the foreign sale of Togolese products. Export sales are made by local firms in Paris and London, acting as agents of the Office.

Industry

      Mining and quarrying dominate industry in Togo. Manufacturing in the past centred on the processing of agricultural commodities and the import substitution of consumer goods (textiles, footwear, beverages, and tires). In the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, major investments in heavy industrial schemes included a cement plant, a petroleum refinery, a steelworks, and a phosphoric acid plant, but some of these have since closed down.

Trade

      Imports include machinery, transport equipment, food, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, and paper products. Low customs duties have encouraged significant smuggling of imported consumer goods to neighbouring countries with higher tariffs, especially Ghana. Besides phosphate and agricultural products, some refined petroleum and cement are exported. Togo's main trading partners are France, The Netherlands, and Germany.

Transportation

      The three main road systems are the scenic coastal road between Ghana and Benin; the road from Lomé north to Burkina Faso; and roads serving the cocoa- and coffee-producing area of Kpalimé, Badou, and Atakpamé.

      The government-owned national railway consists of four lines, all of which emanate from Lomé. One line connects Kpalimé with the capital; other lines run to Aného, Tabligbo, and Blitta.

      Lomé is Togo's principal port. Its artificial harbour was inaugurated in 1968. A second port at Kpémé, about 22 miles northeast of Lomé, is used exclusively to handle phosphate shipments.

      The international airport at Lomé links Togo with European and other African countries. A second international airport at Niamtougou in the north opened in the early 1980s. There are local airports in Atakpamé, Sokodé, Sansanné-Mango, and Dapaong.

Administration and social conditions

Government

      The military coup d'état of 1967 abolished the constitution of 1963 and dissolved the National Assembly. Togo had been ruled since 1969 by the Rally of the Togolese People, the sole political party until 1991 when parties were legalized. A new constitution in 1992 established the president as head of state and an elected multiparty National Assembly. The president appoints the prime minister from the parliament majority.

      The country is divided into five régions—Maritime, Plateaux, Centrale, Kara, and Savanes—for the purposes of economic planning. The five régions are subdivided into 21 préfectures, each of which is headed by a district chief assisted by a district council. Seven communes have been established—for the cities of Aného, Atakpamé, Bassar, Lomé, Kpalimé, Sokodé, and Tsévié, respectively.

      The administrative apparatus is complemented by traditional authorities, which include tribal kings or chiefs, village chiefs, and heads of family groups. These traditional authorities play a role in the judicial system, dealing with certain questions of customary law. The judicial system, headed by a Supreme Court, consists of a number of law courts in which civil, commercial, administrative, and criminal cases are heard.

Education

      Education is modeled after the French system. Togolese teachers, who have replaced French personnel to a large extent, are expected to adapt the system to the Togolese context. Primary and secondary education is provided by public or parochial schools.

      The University of Benin at Lomé (founded in 1970) has schools of humanities and science and a university institute of technology. A school of architecture and town planning, also at Lomé, was founded in 1975 by the African and Mauritian Common Organization (OCAM).

Cultural life

      Like other African peoples, the Togolese have a strong oral tradition. Little has been done, however, to promote vernacular literature. Before independence there were a few Togolese writers using French. Since independence, regional (especially Ewe) literature emerged with the works of several novelists and playwrights. Founded in 1967, the African Ballet of Togo has aimed at popularizing the finest traditional dances.

Macaire K. Pedanou Samuel Decalo

History

      Until 1884 Togoland was an indeterminate buffer zone between the warring states of Asante and Dahomey. The only port was Petit Popo (Anécho, or Aného). Throughout the 18th century the Togo portion of the Slave Coast was held by the Danes.

German occupation

      German missionaries arrived in Ewe territory in 1847, and German traders were soon established at Anécho. In 1884 Gustav Nachtigal (Nachtigal, Gustav), sent by the German government, induced a number of coastal chiefs to accept German protection. The protectorate was recognized in 1885, and its coastal frontiers with Dahomey and the Gold Coast were defined by treaties with France and Great Britain. German military expeditions (1888–97) met with little resistance, securing a hinterland the boundaries of which also were determined by treaties with France (1897) and Great Britain (1899).

       Lomé, at the western end of the coast, was selected as the colonial capital in 1897, a modern town was laid out, and in 1904 a jetty was built. Three railways were constructed to open up the interior. Exploitation was confined to the coastal and central areas and was exclusively agricultural. Plantations were established both by the government and by private German corporations, but crop development was left mainly to the Togolese, assisted by agriculturists trained at a college in Nuatja (Notsé). Upwardly mobile Ewe were recruited into what was supposed to be Germany's Musterkolonie (model colony). Trade was chiefly in palm products, rubber, cotton, and cocoa. German administration was efficient but marred by its harsh treatment of Africans and use of forced labour.

      On August 7, 1914, at the outset of World War I, British and (British Empire) French colonial troops from the Gold Coast and Dahomey invaded Togoland and on August 26 secured the unconditional surrender of the Germans. Thereafter the western part of the colony was administered by Britain, the eastern part by France. By an Anglo-French agreement of July 10, 1919, France secured the railway system and the whole coastline. After Germany renounced its sovereignty in the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations in 1922 issued mandates to Britain and France for the administration of their spheres.

League of Nations (Nations, League of) mandate

      The northern part of the British-mandated territory was administered with the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, the southern part with the Gold Coast Colony. Although the British administration built roads connecting its sphere with the road system of the Gold Coast, the bulk of the territory's external trade passed over the railways of French Togo.

      French Togo was administered by a commissioner assisted by a consultative executive council. When British Togo was attached to the Gold Coast, French Togo was formed into a distinct unit until 1934, when a kind of economic union was established with Dahomey; this was replaced in 1936 by a qualified integration with French West Africa that lasted 10 years. Agricultural development was pursued, and a planned settlement of the interior by the Kabre and other peoples was carried out. Peanut growing was introduced in the northern areas, and energetic action was taken against sleeping sickness.

      After World War II French Togo sent a deputy to the French National Assembly, a counselor to the Assembly of the French Union, and two senators to the Council of the Republic. A representative assembly was concerned with internal affairs.

United Nations trusteeship

      In 1946 the British and French governments placed their spheres of Togoland under UN trusteeship. After 1947 the Ewe people in southern Togoland represented to the Trusteeship Council that either their territories or the whole of Togoland should be brought under a common administration. These proposals were difficult to implement because Ewe also inhabited the southeastern part of the Gold Coast Colony and because not all the people of southern Togoland were Ewe. The British colony was also rapidly advancing toward self-government, and the incorporation of the northern part of the British sphere with the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast had reunited the Dagomba and Mamprusi kingdoms, both of which had been cut in two by the pre-1914 boundary. Following a plebiscite held under UN auspices on May 9, 1956, the British trust territory of Togoland was on December 13 incorporated into the Gold Coast (although in the southern districts of Ho and Kpandu the Ewe vote showed a two-to-one majority in favour of continued British trusteeship). The Gold Coast and Togoland together were renamed Ghana and achieved independence in 1957.

Independence

      French Togoland became an autonomous republic within the French Union on August 30, 1956. This status was confirmed (despite Ewe opposition) by a plebiscite held in October under French auspices. Nicolas Grunitzky was appointed premier. Following UN representations, elections in April 1958 favoured complete independence and rejected Grunitzky's Togolese Progress Party in favour of Sylvanus Olympio (Olympio, Sylvanus)'s Togolese National Unity Party. Togo became independent on April 27, 1960.

      After the 1961 elections, which established a presidential form of government, Olympio became the first president. He maintained economic cooperation with France. Togo became a member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU, now the African Union) in 1963 and in 1965 subscribed to the renewed Joint African and Malagasy Organization, which provided for economic, political, and social cooperation among French-speaking African states.

Hubert Jules Deschamps Samuel Decalo

      Ghanaian pressure for the integration of Togo with Ghana was resisted by the Togolese and led to strained relations between the two republics, including a trade embargo imposed by Ghana. Olympio's increasingly harsh rule and policy of fiscal austerity came to an end on January 13, 1963. Having rejected petitions to integrate into the national army Togolese noncommissioned officers recently demobilized from France's colonial armies, Olympio was shot at the gates of the U.S. Embassy (while seeking sanctuary) by Sergeant Étienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Eyadéma, Gnassingbé) (later called Gnassingbé Eyadéma). Grunitzky was invited to return from exile and assume the presidency, and he was confirmed in office in subsequent elections that also created a new constitution and legislature. Most of the noncommissioned officers were integrated into an expanded army—many as commissioned officers.

      Cabinet infighting, aggravated in the south by Ewe feelings that with Olympio's assassination they had lost power to Grunitzky's largely pro-northern administration, led to chronic instability. On January 13, 1967, Eyadéma, then a lieutenant colonel and chief of staff, once again seized power and dissolved all political parties. Though relying primarily on the support of his kinsmen in the north and the largely northern-staffed army, Eyadéma's rule was stabilized by a number of other factors. phosphate exports dramatically improved the economic picture, allowing the regime to satisfy regional and ethnic interests and to begin the first serious effort at transforming the countryside. Meticulous ethnic balancing of the cabinet and an open-door economic policy further attracted support from prospering traders (and smugglers into Ghana), and by 1972 Eyadéma felt secure enough to seek popular legitimation via a presidential plebiscite. In 1974 the phosphate industry was nationalized, generating increased state revenues. On December 30, 1979, the first legislative elections since 1967 were held under a new constitution that formally placed Togo under civilian, one-party rule headed by President Eyadéma and the Rally of the Togolese People. Legislative elections were held again in 1985, and Eyadéma was elected to a second seven-year term the following year. A commission was established in 1990 to draft a new constitution, which prompted the legalization of political parties in 1991 and the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1992. However, in the first multiparty elections in August 1993, Eyadéma was reelected president amid allegations of electoral fraud, and the same charges were leveled in 1998. Protests over the 1998 elections continued into 1999, affecting the legislative elections held that year, and instigated an independent inquiry by the UN and the OAU. Their joint report, issued in 2001, found that the government had systematically violated human rights during the 1998 presidential election. Eyadéma's reelection in 2003 was again clouded by accusations of fraud; however, these claims were refuted by international observers.

      Despite his long tenure, Eyadéma's regime was not without its opponents. Most of these were Ewe from the south (including the self-exiled sons of Olympio) rebelling against the northerner Eyadéma and the cult of personality that progressively surrounded him. The opposition sponsored conspiracies to topple Eyadéma and was held responsible for a number of bombings in Lomé. Civil unrest, in the form of strikes and sometimes-violent demonstrations, plagued Eyadéma as well. The regime's patronage base—and, by extension, its stability—was also undermined in the 1980s and '90s by an economic downturn. Falling global prices for phosphates led to sharply lower state revenues, while growing corruption and massive expenditures on the bloated civil service and inefficient public enterprises strained the fiscal resources of the state. Togo's costly government-owned industries were dismantled or privatized, and the country's heavy national debt was often rescheduled. In 2004 the European Union agreed to resume the flow of monetary aid to Togo, which had been halted in 1993 as a protest against the poor governance and lack of democracy in the country, if Togo met specified criteria addressing such issues as election reform and the repeal of controversial press laws.

      After Eyadéma's unexpected death in February 2005, his son, Faure Gnassingbé, was hastily installed as president by the military—an action critics characterized as a coup. After weeks of international condemnation, Gnassingbé stepped down and a presidential election was held in April. He was declared the winner of that election, which was initially certified by some international observers as free and fair but later marred as reports of considerable fraud emerged. The opposition refused to immediately concede defeat, and hundreds of people were killed and thousands fled from the country in the violent post-election aftermath.

Samuel Decalo Ed.

Additional Reading

Robert Cornevin, Histoire du Togo, 3rd ed. rev. and expanded (1969), covers geography, prehistory, ethnology, and history. Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Togo, 2nd ed. (1987), is a useful reference with an extensive bibliography. Ethnographic studies include Jean-Claude Froelich, Pierre Alexandre, and Robert Cornevin, Les Populations du Nord-Togo (1963); Raymond Verdier, Le Pays kabiyé (1982); and François de Medeiros (ed.), Peuples du Golfe du Bénin (1984). The political evolution of the country since independence is presented in Samuel Decalo, “The Benevolent General: Military Rule in Togo,” in his Coups and Army Rule in Africa (1976), pp. 87–121; and in the issue titled “Togo Authentique,” Politique Africaine, 27 (September–October 1987). Arthur J. Knoll, Togo Under Imperial Germany, 1884–1914 (1978), is a study of the German colonial era. Comi M. Toulabor, Le Togo sous Eyadéma (1986); and Andoch Nutépé Bonin, Le Togo du sergent en général (1983), discuss the period of military rule.Samuel Decalo

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