• France has invested €450M in Togo via AFD, including €80M in grants
• Cooperation focuses on water, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure projects
• France is Togo’s second-largest supplier; 40 French firms operate locally

Economic and financial cooperation between Togo and France remains strong, French officials said on Friday, Jan. 23, at a press briefing in Lomé.

The briefing was attended by France’s ambassador to Togo, Augustin Favereau, and Benjamin Neumann, the new director of the French Development Agency (AFD) in the country.

The partnership is underpinned by AFD funding as well as trade and investment ties. According to figures released, AFD, France’s main development finance agency in Africa, has invested more than 450 million euros in Togo, including around 80 million euros in grants. The financing has been channelled into 18 projects across the country.

AFD’s portfolio in Togo

AFD’s portfolio in Togo is made up mainly of concessional loans, Neumann said. New commitments average around 40 million euros a year.

The funding is directed toward projects prioritised by Togolese authorities, particularly in water and sanitation, agriculture and energy.

AFD said the financing aims to expand access to essential public services while supporting structural investment in key sectors of the economy. Grants, which now represent a smaller share of the portfolio, are used mainly for feasibility studies, technical assistance and projects with a strong social component, the official said.

They also help prepare larger investment programmes and support institutional reforms.

Franco-Togolese cooperation

Franco-Togolese cooperation has previously been discussed at the highest level. “Togo displays an economic trajectory that offers many opportunities and I am truly eager to strengthen the economic partnership with France,” President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé said after a working lunch at the Élysée Palace on April 9, 2021.

He said at the time that both sides wanted to consolidate the bilateral relationship.

Economic cooperation between Togo and France goes beyond development financing and is also built on long-standing trade ties and investment, said Jérôme Froute, the economic counsellor at the French Embassy in Togo.

He said the momentum fits into a “renewed economic partnership” promoted by President Emmanuel Macron in his annual address to ambassadors on Jan. 8, 2026, at the Élysée Palace. In that speech, Macron called for a stronger push by French companies in Africa, urging increased investment and deeper trade ties amid intense competition.

According to the latest available data, trade between Togo and France reached nearly 268 million euros, or around 176 billion CFA francs, in 2023.

With 225 million euros, or about 148 billion CFA francs, in exports to Togo, France held a market share of 9.3%, making it the country’s second-largest supplier behind China at 19.6% and ahead of India at 8.2%.

Around 40 French company subsidiaries operating in Togo posted combined revenue of more than 570 million euros, more than one billion dollars, or roughly 370 billion CFA francs, and employed more than 3,000 people, excluding micro, small and medium-sized service providers.

The companies operate across several sectors, including logistics, construction, energy, agribusiness and services.

French exports to Togo have remained strong, but French purchases of Togolese products stood at around 42.9 million euros, or 28 billion CFA francs, in 2023. Imports were mainly agricultural goods, particularly cereals, legumes and oilseeds. France ranked as Togo’s sixth-largest customer, with an estimated market share of 6.5%.

Fiacre E. Kakpo