Togo

Togo exists because Germany wanted a coastal toehold in West Africa and drew boundaries that happened to include Africa's deepest natural harbor—an accident of colonial cartography that remains the nation's most valuable economic asset.

German Togoland became a protectorate in 1884, part of the European scramble for African territory. The boundaries had no relation to ethnic groups, watershed, or pre-colonial political units; they simply marked what German negotiators could secure against French and British claims. When World War I ended German colonial ambitions, the League of Nations split the territory—France received the eastern portion, Britain the west. British Togo merged with the Gold Coast to become Ghana; French Togo became the modern nation.

The French administered Togo as an afterthought, occasionally combining it administratively with Dahomey (now Benin). Independence came in 1960, but economic structures remained colonial: export agriculture producing coffee, cocoa, and cotton for French markets, with the French franc zone providing monetary stability and metropolitan France absorbing most trade.

Phosphate changed the equation. Deposits discovered in 1952 near Lomé grew in importance after independence. By 1974, when the industry was nationalized, phosphate exports drove state revenue and enabled the patronage networks that sustained political stability. Togo holds an estimated 130 million metric tons of reserves; the coastal Hahoto deposits produced 2.4 million metric tons for export in peak years, shipped to South Africa, Canada, and the Philippines.

But phosphate prices collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s, undermining the revenue base. What replaced it, increasingly, was Togo's geographic advantage. The Port of Lomé, with 16.6-meter depth—among West Africa's deepest—can handle vessels that no neighboring port accommodates. The port operates 24 hours daily, serving as the primary transit point for landlocked Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

Today, transit trade and logistics define Lomé's economic function. Phosphates still contribute 19.2% of exports (roughly $274 million in 2023), but the port's role as regional gateway generates revenue through tariffs, warehousing, and services that don't appear in export statistics. Agriculture remains dominant—over 50% of employment—but the modern economy exists because ships bound for the Sahel must pass through Togolese waters.

The 2025 challenge is whether transit dependency creates sustainable development or merely rent extraction. The landlocked Sahel nations now governed by juntas that broke from France represent both opportunity and risk: they need ocean access, but their political stability is uncertain.

By 2026, Togo's trajectory depends on whether it can upgrade from transit corridor to processing hub—adding value to goods passing through rather than simply charging for passage. The Plateforme Industrielle d'Adétikopé represents one attempt, but transforming geography into manufacturing requires investment and skills that colonial economics never developed.