Togo nation profile – BBC Information

Togo, a slender strip of land on Africa’s west coast, has for years been the goal of criticism over its human rights file and political governance.

Gaining independence from France in 1960, Togo has struggled to construct a steady economic system.

It is likely one of the world’s prime 5 producers of phosphates, that are utilized in fertilisers, however stays poor and depending on international assist.

President: Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema

Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema succeeded his father, who died in 2005 after ruling the nation with an iron fist for 38 years.

The army put in Faure Gnassingbe as president, however after demonstrations and protests wherein lots of died, in addition to worldwide strain, he held an election in April 2005 that he subsequently received.

Gnassingbe was re-elected in 2010, 2015 and 2020. The entire elections have been criticised by the opposition, who’ve alleged situations of widespread fraud.

In 2024, Togo’s parliament gave ultimate approval to a brand new structure extending the president’s time period. The nation will transfer from a presidential to a parliamentary system.

President Gnassingbé’s supporters argue the modifications cut back his powers by reworking the presidency right into a ceremonial position.

Critics have denounced the transfer as a coup, arguing that the reforms take away limits on his keep in workplace and their removing allows him to stay president till 2031, after which he could possibly be appointed to the brand new place of “president of the council of ministers”, in impact prime minister.

Togo has a diversified media panorama. Nevertheless, press freedom is determined by the political setting.

Throughout election campaigns media retailers come below strain. “The state and political figures exert sturdy affect on how information is dealt with”, says the NGO Reporters With out Borders (RSF).

Some key occasions in Togo’s historical past:

15-Seventeenth Centuries – Ewe clans from Nigeria and the Ane from Ghana and Ivory Coast settle in area already occupied by Kwa and Voltaic peoples.

Sixteenth-Nineteenth Centuries – Atlantic slave commerce begins in 1500s and the coastal area turns into a buying and selling centre for Europeans in quest of slaves.

1884 – German protectorate of Togoland established.

1914 – German Togoland is occupied by British and French forces.

1916 – Joint rule by UK and France collapses and Togoland is partitioned into British and French zones, creating the colonies of British Togoland and French Togoland.

1922 – League of Nations confirms this division, the mandate to manipulate the western a part of the nation is handed to Britain, whereas France is given the japanese space.

1957 – British Togoland votes to hitch the Gold Coast as a part of the impartial nation of Ghana.

1959 – French Togoland turns into an autonomous republic throughout the French Union.

1960 – Togolese Republic turns into impartial.

1961 – Sylvanus Olympio turns into first president in elections boycotted by the opposition. Opposition events are dissolved. Nation brecomes one-party state.

1963 – Olympio is assassinated in a military coup. One of many leaders is Gnassingbé Eyadéma. The army fingers over energy to an interim authorities led by Nicolas Grunitzky who initiates political reforms.

1967 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma seizes energy, political events are dissolved.

1992 – New structure authorized.

1993 – President Eyadéma dissolves authorities, sparking protests and deadly clashes with police. Hundreds flee to neighbouring nations.

2005 – President Eyadéma dies. The army appoints his son Faure as president He goes on to win elections that yr and subsequently. Opposition events denounce the outcomes as fraudulent.

2022 – Togo and Gabon be part of the Commonwealth.