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2016 Country Review Togo 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 4 Togo 5 Africa 6 Chapter 2 8 Political Overview 8 History 9 Political Conditions 10 Political Risk Index 30 Political Stability 45 Freedom Rankings 60 Human Rights 72 Government Functions 74 Government Structure 75 Principal Government Officials 80 Leader Biography 82 Leader Biography 82 Foreign Relations 84 National Security 86 Defense Forces 87 Chapter 3 90 Economic Overview 90 Economic Overview 91 Nominal GDP and Components 93 Population and GDP Per Capita 95 Real GDP and Inflation 96 Government Spending and Taxation 97 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 98 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 99 Data in US Dollars 100 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 101 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 103 World Energy Price Summary 104 CO2 Emissions 105 Agriculture Consumption and Production 106 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 108 Metals Consumption and Production 109 World Metals Pricing Summary 111 Economic Performance Index 112 Chapter 4 124 Investment Overview 124 Foreign Investment Climate 125 Foreign Investment Index 128 Corruption Perceptions Index 141 Competitiveness Ranking 152 Taxation 161 Stock Market 162 Partner Links 162 Chapter 5 164 Social Overview 164 People 165 Human Development Index 167 Life Satisfaction Index 170 Happy Planet Index 182 Status of Women 191 Global Gender Gap Index 193 Culture and Arts 202 Etiquette 203 Travel Information 203 Diseases/Health Data 213 Chapter 6 220 Environmental Overview 220 Environmental Issues 221 Environmental Policy 222 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 223 Global Environmental Snapshot 234 Global Environmental Concepts 245 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 259 Appendices 284 Bibliography 285 Togo Chapter 1 Country Overview Togo Review 2016 Page 1 of 297 pages Togo Country Overview TOGO Togo is a narrow strip of land in western Africa between Benin and Ghana. In 1884 it became a German protectorate. It was seized by Britain and France at the start of World War I, divided and administered under League of Nations mandates. The British-ruled western part was later incorporated into what is now Ghana, and France granted Togo independence in 1960. Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated in a military coup three years later. Head of the armed forces Gnassingbe Eyadema seized power in a 1967 coup and dissolved all political parties. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government was largely dominated by President Eyadema Gnassingbe, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has maintained power almost continually since 1967 and maintains a majority of seats in today's legislature. Eyadema Gnassingbe died in early 2005 after 38 years in power. The military's immediate but short-lived installation of his son, Faure Gnassingbe, as president provoked widespread international condemnation. Mr. Faure stepped down and called elections which he won two months later. The legislative elections held in October 2007 with all opposition parties participating were declared free and fair by international and national election observers. Togo was finally being re-welcomed into the international community since the 2007 elections, which paved the way for donor reengagement. Today, Togo is among the world's poorest countries. Its economy is heavily dependent on commercial and subsistence agriculture. The long-lasting socio-political crisis and withdrawal of donor support have taken a toll on Togo’s economy, infrastructure, and institutions. Editor's Note: Faure Gnassingbe assumed the presidency in 2005 after his father, President Gen. Eyadema Gnassingbe (in power from 1967) died after a short illness. This succession of power was not regarded as legitimate by most of the global community despite a hasty change to the constitution to provide for it. Under the old constitution, the parliament's speaker would have assumed power after the leader's death and presidential elections would have been held within sixty days. Instead, Speaker Fambaré Ouattara Natchaba was ousted by measures apparently orchestrated by Togo's Togo Review 2016 Page 2 of 297 pages Togo military. Sanctions and international outcry led to the younger Gnassingbe's resignation and the call for new elections. Abass Bonfoh was named as the new speaker of the National Assembly and, accordingly, became the acting president for an interim period (from Feb. 25, 2005 until the inauguration of the new president elected on April 24, 2005). Fresh elections were held in April 2005. Faure Gnassingbe won victory and assumed the presidency. He was re-elected to power in 2010. Gnassingbe contested the 2015 elections, and with no term limits to prevent him from seeking re-election, he secured a third term in office. Togo Review 2016 Page 3 of 297 pages Togo Key Data Key Data Region: Africa Population: 7552318 Tropical; hot, humid in south; Climate: semiarid in north. French (official and the language of commerce) Ewe and Mina (the two major African Languages: languages in the south) Dagomba and Kabye (the two major African languages in the north) Currency: 1 CFA = 100 centimes Holiday: Independence Day is 27 April (1960), Liberation Day is 13 January Area Total: 56790 Area Land: 54390 Coast Line: 56 Togo Review 2016 Page 4 of 297 pages Togo Togo Country Map Togo Review 2016 Page 5 of 297 pages Togo Africa Regional Map Togo Review 2016 Page 6 of 297 pages Togo Togo Review 2016 Page 7 of 297 pages Togo Chapter 2 Political Overview Togo Review 2016 Page 8 of 297 pages Togo History The ethnocultural groups called the Ewes moved into the area that 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 divided for administrative purposes between France and the United Kingdom. After World War II, the mandate became a United Nations trust territory administered by the United Kingdom and France. During the mandate and trusteeship periods, Western Togo was administered as part of the British Gold Coast. In 1957, the residents of British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast as part of the new independent nation of Ghana. Meanwhile, French Togo became an autonomous republic within the French union by statute in 1955. Nevertheless, it retained its United Nations trusteeship status. A legislative assembly elected by universal adult suffrage had considerable power over internal affairs, with an elected executive body headed by a prime minister responsible to the legislature. These changes were embodied in a constitution approved in a 1956 referendum. On Sept. 10, 1956, Nicholas Grunitzky became prime minister of the new Republic of Togo. Due to irregularities in the plebiscite, however, an unsupervised general election was held in 1958 and won by Sylvanus Olympio. Togo Review 2016 Page 9 of 297 pages Togo On April 27, 1960, in a smooth transition, Togo severed its judicial ties with France, shed its United Nations trusteeship status, and became fully independent under a provisional constitution with Olympio as president. A new constitution in 1961 established an executive president, elected for seven years by universal suffrage, and a weak National Assembly. The president was empowered to appoint ministers and dissolve the assembly, holding a monopoly of executive power. In elections that year, from which Grunitzky's party was disqualified, Olympio's "Unite Togolaise" party won 90 percent of the vote and all 51 National Assembly seats and he became Togo's first elected president Note on History: In certain entries, open source content from the State Department Background Notes and Country Guides have been used. A full listing of sources is available in the Bibliography. Political Conditions Post-Independence Era From the time just after independence, four principal political parties existed in Togo: the leftist "Juvento" (Togolese youth movement); the "Union Democratique des Populations Togolaises" (IDPT); the "Parti Togolais Du Progres" (PTP), founded by former prime minister, Nicholas Grunitzky, but having limited support; and the "Unite Togolaises" (UT), the party of Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio. In 1961, President Olympio's "Unite Togolaise" party won 90 percent of the vote and all 51 National Assembly seats. Rivalries between elements of these parties had begun as early as the 1940s, and they came to a head with Olympio dissolving the opposition parties in January 1962, ostensibly because of plots against the majority party government. Many opposition members, including Grunitzky, fled to avoid arrest. On Jan. 13, 1963, President Olympio was assassinated in an uprising of army non-commissioned officers, who were apparently dissatisfied with conditions following their discharge from the French army. Grunitzky returned from exile two days later to head a provisional government with the title Togo Review 2016 Page 10 of 297 pages Togo of prime minister. On May 5, 1963, the Togolese adopted a new constitution, chose deputies from all political parties for the National Assembly, and elected Grunitzky as president and Antoine Meatchi as vice president. Nine days later, President Grunitzky formed a government in which all parties were represented. During the next several years, the Grunitzky government's power became insecure. On Nov. 21, 1966, an attempt to overthrow Grunitzky, inspired principally by civilian political opponents in the UT Party, was unsuccessful.
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