Togo

To improve living conditions and ensure access to water for all in Togo, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) supports water supply projects in both urban and rural areas. AFD also works with Greater Lomé to strengthen its capacity to manage solid waste and contributes to the resilience of the country’s coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

Since 2006, AFD has been assisting the Autonomous District of Greater Lomé to enhance its governance and performance in solid waste management. The Lomé Urban Environment Project (PEUL) aims to improve the structure of the waste management sector, secure the former landfill site, and optimize operations at the current disposal facility in Aképé.

As the main donor in Togo’s water sector, AFD co-finances, alongside the European Union, efforts to improve access to safe drinking water in Greater Lomé. This support includes the implementation of the national water sector master plan and the construction of water distribution infrastructure across the country. In the Kara and Savanes regions, AFD has been supporting a program since 2012 to improve hygiene and living conditions. The program includes the construction of boreholes and latrines in schools, health centers, and villages.

AFD also supports efforts to restore the coastal ecosystem and strengthen its resilience. In partnership with the World Bank, it is helping reduce coastal erosion and mitigate the risks associated with extreme weather events, while also enhancing the resilience of local populations.

AFD is involved in the development of the Greater Lomé sanitation master plan and the construction of rainwater drainage infrastructure. With EU-delegated funding, AFD financed stormwater drainage systems and the construction of the Fourth Lake, which now protects communities in the northeastern outskirts of Lomé from flooding.

Togo is heavily dependent on its neighbors for energy and is struggling to meet growing national demand. To resolve these issues, the country has committed to an electrification strategy developed in 2018 with support from the international community.

AFD, the main donor in the sector, is helping Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) roll out its investment master plan. It is focusing its support on improving the quality and quantity of people's access to energy and economic activities. Two projects are currently under way, co-financed with the German bank, KfW, and the European Union:

• Extension of the Greater Lomé electric distribution network: the project will reinforce the energy systems, reduce inequalities by developing suburban areas, develop renewable energy production, and increase access to reliable electricity and economic activities through the financial recovery of CEET.
• A similar program aims to upgrade, extend and increase the density of the electricity network in 53 towns outside Greater Lomé. It will provide over 500,000 people with access to reliable and sustainable electricity.

AFD places the development of human capital at the heart of its work in Togo. The objective is to help every learner reach their full potential and to support the country in building a skilled and qualified workforce.

AFD’s efforts include:

• Supporting basic education through the national secondary school reform program. The aim is to reduce regional inequalities in access to lower secondary education while improving teaching quality and promoting gender equity.
• Facilitating the integration of young graduates into the labor market by modernizing agricultural and rural training centers and by strengthening and sustaining the activities of the Industrial Skills Training Center (CFMI).

AFD has ended its activities in the health sector, which it had supported since 2003, and is now focusing its funding on the social protection sector, for which it supports safety net programs.

Following the satisfactory results from the Novissi program introduced by the Togolese authorities in 2020 to alleviate the social and financial crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are continuing our efforts to extend, structure and strengthen the social protection system for vulnerable individuals, alongside the World Bank.

Several major projects are now under way in the booming agriculture and rural development sector. They aim to make the agricultural sector a driver of economic growth and job creation. Two rural road development programs are under way, both co-financed with the German development bank, KfW:

• Our first area of support aims to open up rural agricultural areas and promote access to markets and basic public services for family farms. More than 600 km of cotton and coffee-cocoa farm tracks have been built and rehabilitated in the Savanes and Plateaux regions and living conditions have improved for over 500,000 agricultural producers.
• We continue to support the development and construction of rural infrastructure and strengthen infrastructure network maintenance capacities.

We also plan to support the rehabilitation of irrigated plots and the building of 55 hillside dams for agro-pastoral activities, in partnership with KfW, and develop female entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector.

AFD is a key partner of regional development banks operating in Togo.

With a partnership spanning over 40 years, AFD is one of the leading donors supporting the West African Development Bank (BOAD). Since July 2020, AFD has assisted BOAD in designing and implementing a strategy to address the impacts of both Covid-19 and climate change across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) region.

In the post-Covid context, AFD has also supported the economic and financial integration of the ECOWAS Investment and Development Bank (EBID) since July 2020. This support focuses on financing economic recovery investments for the benefit of ECOWAS member states and the regional private sector.

Through its private sector arm, Proparco, AFD also promotes public-private partnerships. Proparco provides support through various financial tools, including credit lines, equity investments in regional holding companies or projects involving Togo, and bank guarantees for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Following the integration of Expertise France (EF), AFD Group now offers a broader and more complementary range of financial and technical support. EF mainly implements projects funded by the European Union, AFD, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance (MINEFI), the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), and the French Ministry of Solidarity and Health.