Togo

Political relations

France and Togo historically have strong relations. A joint programming document aligning the European Union, France and Germany was drawn up for the period 2014-2020, which supports the Togolese Government’s strategy for boosting growth and promoting employment.

Recent bilateral meetings:

• January 2015: President Gnassingbé took part in the Republican march in Paris.
• December 2015: President Gnassingbé with the French Prime Minister, on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Conference (COP21)
• May 2016: meeting between the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration, Robert Dussey, and his counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.
• May 2016: visit by André Vallini, Minister of State for Development and Francophonie and Jean Marie Le Guen, Minister of State for Relations with Parliament.
• 14-15 October 2016: visit by Jean-Yves Le Drian, Defence Minister, for the African Union Summit on Maritime Security, Safety and Development in Africa.
• 28-29 October 2016: visit by Manuel Valls, Prime Minister.

Economic relations

France is one of Togo’s leading suppliers. Togo mainly imports products from sectors in which France holds long-standing comparative advantages (food and drink, medicine, fertilizers, perfumes, vehicles) and to a much lesser extent (6% of our sales), hi-tech products.

The huge drop in French exports to Togo in 2017 (down 48.1% to €295.9 million) is due to the fall in hydrocarbon deliveries for the subregion. With the increase in French imports (up 12.1% to €10.5 million), these variations led to France’s trade surplus being halved, dropping to €285.9 million.

France has a strong economic presence in Togo. According to INSEE, the main French subsidiaries in Togo employ 2,200 people.