• Togo plans “administrative conferences” to coordinate public policy implementation

• Pilot project to launch in Kara region before national rollout

• Initiative aims to improve coordination, oversight of decentralized state services

Local governance in Togo is entering a new phase in coordinating public policy implementation with the planned rollout of “administrative conferences.”

The initiative is led by the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Local Governance and Customary Affairs. It will initially be piloted in the Kara region. The project was the central focus of a meeting held in late February in Lomé.

The administrative conferences are intended to be gradually rolled out across all regions of the country. They will serve as a formal framework for coordinating decentralized state services. Specifically, they will function as a platform for consultation, planning, and monitoring policy implementation at the regional and prefectural levels.

According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the approach aims to ensure consistency across government sectors. It also seeks to establish systematic reporting from local levels to the central administration and to strengthen oversight of policy implementation.

“They must allow the State to speak with one voice and act in a coordinated manner throughout the territory,” said Minister Hodabalo Awaté.

According to the minister, the administrative conferences should become “a tool for preventing administrative breakdowns, an early warning mechanism, and a space for information sharing.” He added that they should also make government action more visible to the public.

The initiative comes two years after Togo took a new step in its decentralization process with the establishment of governorates in most economic regions, with the exception of the Centrale region. Authorities say it forms part of a broader, gradual transformation of the country’s territorial governance structure.

Esaïe Edoh, with Togo First