‘Togo promises development, not democracy’ - this was the title of an article in ‘The Economist’ magazine in January 2023. With pioneering initiatives and reform proposals, particularly in the areas of health, social development and the economy, the Togolese government presented a number of arguments in 2023 to confirm this assessment.
Politically, the country has been in the hands of the Gnassingbé clan since 1967. The current president, Faure Essozima Gnassingbé, took office for his fourth term in 2020. There have been improvements in the area of human rights since the change of power from father to son in 2005. However, the Collective of Associations against Impunity in Togo (CACIT) drew a mixed balance at the end of 2023: political and civil rights have been increasingly restricted again in recent months and years. Overall, there have been signs of regression in terms of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. The government justifies this with the further deterioration in the security situation in 2023 in connection with the terrorist threat in the Sahel.
In terms of economic and social development, however, the West African country on the Gulf of Benin has been a regional pioneer in many areas in recent years. In view of the reforms and measures taken to improve economic opportunities for women, the World Bank ranked Togo first out of 53 African countries in the area of economic integration and social inclusion. The ASTRE programme, a social programme to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable households, also contributed to this, which was financially increased again in June 2023 and should enable more than 1.2 million Togolese to escape life-threatening poverty by 2029.
In August 2023, Togo established the multisectoral platform ‘One Health’, thereby taking a step towards strengthening its resilience to health crises in connection with epidemics. The plans for universal health insurance from 2024 are also promising. Since 2021, essential medical services for pregnancy and childbirth have been covered. On the other hand, there has not yet been a real breakthrough in terms of the official recognition of respectful obstetrics as the standard birth model. It is true that the Ministry of Health now explicitly recognises the attendance of births by caregivers as a recommendation - a remarkable novelty after many years in which expectant fathers tended to be excluded from births. However, respectful obstetric care (including the right to self-determined choice of birth position) has yet to be officially recognised as a comprehensive model and right.
In terms of the economic situation, 2023 saw a recovery from various external shocks. The investments in infrastructure visible in the cities in recent years and the reforms to improve the investment climate have led to stable growth of around 5%. However, this has so far been concentrated mainly in the capital. The rural areas, where the poverty rate of up to 59% is twice as high as in the city (27%), have hardly benefited so far. Added to this is the increasingly noticeable climate change, which is threatening agricultural production and thus the livelihoods of a large proportion of the Togolese population. In addition, the prices of various goods and services have risen significantly since 2020, which is having a severe impact on the population and has slowed down efforts to reduce poverty.
