Togo and SDG 9: Blog 3

Togo is a narrow strip of land on Africa’s west coast. Togo was granted independence from France in 1960 and has struggled to build a stable country and economy. Even though the country is one of the world’s top five producers of phosphates, it remains poor and dependent on foreign aid. Togo has a population of 7.6 million and covers 21,925 sq. miles of land. The official language of the country is French. Life expectancy in Tog is 59 years for men and 61 years for women. Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema is the current president of Togo who succeeded his father after 2005 (BBC, 2020).

Fig. 1. Wikipedia (n.d.). Flag of Togo, [Image]. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo#/media/File:Flag_of_Togo.svg on March 8, 2020.

                Togo has put in considerable efforts in terms of investment in road, port and airport infrastructure along with the development of digital economy. In addition, efforts were also made to promote industrialization and access to energy (Togolese Republic a, 2017). Since Togo’s adoption of the Development Programme for 2030 in September 2015, the country has firmly committed and taken ownership of these foals in the formulation of its National Development Plan (NDP) for the period 2018-2022. Togo has conducted several awareness and outreach activities dedicated to SDGs to ensure a shared vision at all levels. Some of the activities that were conducted are training and sensitization workshops carried out at the national and regional levels. This will benefit the development stakeholders and allow them to take full ownership of the issues at stake. Togo has made significant efforts to promote sustainable industrialization and resilient infrastructure. The Lome-Brukina Faso border corridor and the main cross-throughways were rehabilitated along with the Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport in Lomé (Togolese Republic b, 2017).

Fig. 2. Tbite (2014). Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport New Terminal, [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1721045 on March 8, 2020.

Fig 3. ChrisZwolle (January 17, 2015). Togo road infrastructure, [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1579760 on March 8,2020.

 The airport was also upgraded to international standards in 2016 with the construction of a new terminal with the capacity to accommodate more than 1.5 million passengers per year. This increased the number of passengers to 758,000 in 2016 from 589,416. A 155 miles fiber-optic network has helped to connect more than 560 office buildings and more than 10,000 civil servants. This has enhanced the modernization of public administration and simplification of administrative procedures. Efforts towards a functional, accessible and equitable healthcare system have also been conducted (Togolese Republic b, 2017).

            Since 2010, Togo has established an Institutional mechanism for the coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of development policies (DIPD). DIPD is aimed at the national coordination of the different levels of monitoring and evaluation of developmental policies and ensuring accountability. A unit has been established at the Presidency of the Republic which oversees monitoring sustainable development and international agreements. There has been monitoring of integration of information communication technology (ICT) (Togolese Republic a, 2017). It is estimated that it may cost Africa up to $84 billion per year (about 6 percent of Africa’s GDP). Corruption in public procurement needs to be tackled which will strengthen the relationship between the public and private sectors to better deliver on SDG-related projects (United Nations, 2019).

            The government of Togo has also considered sustainable industrialization. Togo’s government has implemented power-saving advice programme, implemented a transparent and modern legal and institutional framework to attract more national and foreign private investors, secured industrial sites and establishment of roadmaps and created National Investment Promotion and the Free Zone Council (Togolese Republic a, 2017).

            Togo is working to strengthen its statistical output through National Institute of Statistics and Economic & Demographic Studies, finalization of the National Development Plan incorporating the SDGs and the mobilization of resources to finance its implementation (Togolese Republic b, 2017). This demonstrates that Togo’s government is committed to push the country towards development and build its infrastructure to complete the SDGs.

References

BBC. (February 24, 2020). Togo country profile. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14106781.

Togolese Republic a. (July 2017). High- level political forum on sustainable development [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16521Togo_EN.pdf.

Togolese Republic b. (July 2017). High-level political forum on sustainable development Togo Country Report Summary [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16305Togo_EN.pdf

United Nations. December 5, 2019). Economic Commission for Africa [PDF File]. Retrieved from http://www.lldc2conference.org/custom-content/uploads/2019/11/ECA-MTR-side-event-concept-note.pdf