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In The News
Economy is
highly dependent on subsistence agriculture. Even
basic food items need import. Cotton
is the most important agricultural
commodity produced. Cocoa, Coffee and
Cotton are the main export earning commodities. More
than 65% of the people depend on subsistence agriculture. About 35% Togolese live below
poverty line.
Mining industry is the
important industrial activity. Togo is the fourth largest producer of
phosphates in the world. In spite of tough
competition in the world markets, they maintain their position due to
lower cost of production. Still
the drop in phosphate prices has affected
the industry adversely.
The government introduced several programme
to achieve sustainable economic growth and medium term economic
viability. But political
unrest and labor strike in both private and public sector foiled these
attempts. Subsequent to the energy crises of 1998, the
economic situation deteriorated and business confidence fell. Togo has to import 90% of their energy
requirements.
Togo serves as a regional hub for commerce and trade in west Africa. It launched duty
free export processing zones in 1989 in an attempt to liberalize its
economy. This has been a great attraction
to investors from France, Italy,
Scandinavia, the US, India, and China and created jobs for Togolese
nationals. The government's decade-long effort, supported by the World
Bank and the IMF, to implement economic reform encourage foreign
investment, and bring revenues in line with expenditures.
Lack of large-scale foreign aid, deterioration of the financial sector,
energy shortages, and lower commodity prices in world markets continue
to constrain economic growth.
Contentious Issues
1.
Political unrest in Togo and human
right abuses are widely criticized. Most
of the multilateral and bilateral aids from foreign donors remain
frozen.
Border
disputes with Benin.
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