Togo Economic Outlook

• The growth rate should show an improvement in 2012 and 2013.
• Progress in managing the public finances and the external debt have made it possible to cut the risk of excessive indebtedness.
• In urban areas 21.4% of young people are unemployed: in the countryside the figure is 5.4 %.

Economic activity grew in 2011 and should continue to grow in 2012 and 2013 after an increase in production in the primary sector and substantial results in the secondary sector. The budgetary deficit should deepen in the years ahead as a result of the continuation of the countercyclical policy adopted to counteract the effects of the global crisis. The country has made perceptible progress towards meeting the convergence criteria of the West African economic and monetary union (UEMOA).

Achieving completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the progressive clearing of internal debt open up new opportunities for the country, which will need to adopt a prudent debt strategy for the future. The country took a step backward in 2011 in establishing an environment conducive to business. Togo has embarked on a process of modernising its public administration with an e-government project which began a three-year process of implementation in 2012. The government continues to insist that it seeks a climate of peace and reconciliation. These efforts enabled Togo to find a privileged place in the international community: since October 2011 the country has had a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and occupied the presidency in February 2012.

In urban areas youth unemployment is 21.4 % while in the countryside it is 5.4%. But the rate of underemployment is higher in rural areas at 21.7%, compared with 16.1% in towns and cities. The education system is not adapted to the labour market or the country’s future growth sectors. In addition to the creation in May 2010 of a ministry of basic development, arts and crafts trades, youth and employment the government haslaunched several initiatives in favour of youth employment.