Urbis foundation
Partner country Togo
We have been working in Togo since 2005 through our partner organisation URBIS FOUNDATION TOGO, which has its main office in Sokodé, the second largest city in Togo. Another office is located in the capital Lomé. Over the years, our team has grown to now 22 dedicated employees who are committed to promoting a socially, culturally, and ecologically just world. Click here to meet our local management team.
The Republic of Togo is situated on the coast of West Africa. Togo shares borders with Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. 7,6 million inhabitants live on a land area that would equal one sixth of Germany. The official language in Togo is French, but there exist more than 40 ethnicities with 38 individual languages.
Agriculture and the service industry are the most important sectors in the country, the latter especially in and around the capital, Lomé. Lomé is situated on the coast, whereas the more northern regions mostly rely on agriculture as main source of income.
It is amongst other factors due to this strong agricultural dependency that Togo struggles with a high poverty rate: In 2016, Togo was ranked only 166 out of 188 on the Human Development Index, an index analysing the prosperity of a country. 54% of the Togolese population lived beneath the poverty line of 2US$ a day in 2016. The need for an improvement of education opportunities is also evitable: the literacy rate is beneath 60%, with a strong disparity between genders.
Between 1967 and 2005 Eyadéma Gnassingbé ruled as President and was succeeded by his son Faure Gnassingbé. The political situation in Togo is characterised by recurring unrest and turmoil.
In summary, Togo is facing many socio-economic challenges, which complicate the country’s sustainable development.
But at the same time, Togo could benefit from its high potential, which has so far been only insufficiently exploited. This is especially true for the solar sector: with an irradiation rate of at least 1.500 kWh/m², the country presents excellent conditions for the use of solar energy. Especially young people could profit from this potential, since the solar market offers many employment possibilities.
Overall, it is our ambition to help fulfil these potentials in Togo, in order to offer people opportunities for a brighter future.
In Togo, we are therefore active in four sectors:
Despite many socio-economic and political challenges, Togo could benefit from its great potential, which has so far been exploited only marginally. Particularly the country’s solar potential is very promising and could lead the way toward a sustainable future.