Promote:
Invest in Togo
A short guide for companies expanding into Togo: the economy at a glance, the rules and steps to set up, and who can help, each with its source.
1. Togo at a glance
PopulationEstimate
8.59 million
Togo's population was 8,591,626 in 2025.
Source: World Bank WDI, Togo population, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · as of 2025
GDPEstimate
US$11.9 billion
Togo's GDP was US$11.89 billion in 2025, in current dollars of the United States.
Source: World Bank WDI, Togo GDP, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · as of 2025
GDP per personEstimate
US$1,384
Togo's GDP per person was US$1,383.90 in 2025, in current dollars of the United States.
Source: World Bank WDI, Togo GDP per person, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · as of 2025
Real GDP growthEstimate
6.3%
Togo's real GDP growth was 6.3 percent in 2025.
Source: World Bank WDI, Togo real growth, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · as of 2025
InflationEstimate
2.4%
Consumer prices were 2.4 percent higher in September 2026 than in September 2025, a preliminary statistics office figure.
Source: INSEED, consumer price index, September 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of September 2026
Foreign direct investment inflows
US$221.3 million
Foreign direct investment inflows were US$221.29 million in 2025.
Source: UNCTADstat, Togo foreign direct investment inflows, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · as of 2025
The currency is the CFA franc (XOF), the legal currency of the West African Monetary Union member states.
Source: BCEAO, external financial relations regulation, chapter VI (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
2. Before you set up
The investment agency, any one-stop route, the sectors reserved for nationals and the zones, as the guide found them.
On August 26, 2026, Cabinet adopted a decree on API-ZF's attributions and a decree dissolving SAZOF and moving its duties to API-ZF.
Source: Togo Council of Ministers report, August 26, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of August 26, 2026
API-ZF holds a one-stop shop for formalities of companies approved under the investment code or free zone status.
Source: Togo investment ministry, duties and objectives (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
The 2019 investment code applies to companies established in Togo without discrimination, and names no sector reserved for nationals.
Source: Togo investment ministry, investment and free zone laws (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of May 14, 2025
Free zones are governed by Law 2011-018 and administered by API-ZF, and no official list or count of zones is published.
Source: Togo investment ministry, investment and free zone laws (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of May 14, 2025
3. Steps to set up
The main steps, in order, each with the body responsible and its official page.
Setting up in Togo
- Register the company with the one-stop company formalities center.Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE)Official page (opens in a new tab)
Source: Togo commerce ministry, exporter's guide, July 2024 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
- Get a tax identification number from the revenue office, which runs an online registration portal.Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR)Official page (opens in a new tab)
Source: OTR, performance report 2025 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
- Apply to API-ZF for approval under the investment code or for free zone status; an approval committee examines the file.Agence de Promotion des Investissements et de la Zone Franche (API-ZF)Official page (opens in a new tab)
Source: Togo Council of Ministers report, August 26, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of August 26, 2026
- Use the investment portal to find the procedures for environmental certificates, building permits and land titles.Agence de Promotion des Investissements et de la Zone Franche (API-ZF)Official page (opens in a new tab)
Source: API-ZF, Investir au Togo procedures portal (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Show 3 more set-up steps
- Apply for business visas, residence cards and work contract visas through the procedures the investment portal lists.Agence de Promotion des Investissements et de la Zone Franche (API-ZF)Official page (opens in a new tab)
Source: API-ZF, Investir au Togo procedures portal (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
- Register land and property titles through the revenue office land services.Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR), land servicesOfficial page (opens in a new tab)
Source: OTR, online services page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
- Follow the WAEMU rules on payments and transfers abroad, which the regional central bank sets.Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO)Official page (opens in a new tab)
Source: BCEAO, external financial relations regulation, chapter VI (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
4. Organizations that help investors
Start with API-ZF and OTR. Each card links to the organization’s own site.
Each card says what it can help with:Get adviceFind financeMeet requirementsResearch markets
Investment and business setup
- Get advice
Investment and free zone agency
API-ZF
Agence de Promotion des Investissements et de la Zone Franche
Administers the investment code and free zone status, issues investment approvals, and takes over the dissolved free zone company's duties under an August 2026 decree.
Visit API-ZF (opens in a new tab)Source: Togo Council of Ministers report, August 26, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of August 26, 2026
- Get advice
Investment and industry ministry
Investment ministry
Ministère de la Promotion des Investissements, de l'Industrie et de la Souveraineté Économique
Sets investment promotion policy and oversees API-ZF, the agency that holds the one-stop shop.
Visit Investment ministry (opens in a new tab)Source: Togo investment ministry, duties and objectives (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Show 1 more organization
Industrial platform operator
PIA
Plateforme Industrielle d'Adétikopé
Takes applications from companies that want a business unit on the Adétikopé industrial platform.
Visit PIA (opens in a new tab)Source: PIA Togo, business incentives page (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Customs and tax
- Meet requirements
Tax and customs authority
OTR
Office Togolais des Recettes
Handles customs export declarations and issues customs origin documents for the ECOWAS and WAEMU area.
Visit OTR (opens in a new tab)Source: Togo commerce ministry, exporter's guide, July 2024 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
- Meet requirements
Regional central bank
BCEAO
Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest
Regional body
Sets the regional rules on external financial relations, including export domiciliation and repatriation of proceeds.
Visit BCEAO (opens in a new tab)Source: BCEAO, external financial relations regulation, chapter VI (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Show 1 more organization
- Research markets
Regional economic union
WAEMU
Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine
Regional body
Publishes the official bulletin and community programs for its eight member states, which include Togo.
Visit WAEMU (opens in a new tab)Source: WAEMU, home page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Chambers and industry associations
- Get advice
National chamber of commerce
CCIT
Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie du Togo
Issues origin certificates and customs single-duty documents, and runs the AGOA resource center and a business directory.
Visit CCIT (opens in a new tab)Source: CCIT, home page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
5. Worth knowing
Currency and settlement
WAEMU Regulation 09/2010 requires exports to be domiciled with an approved bank, and a 2018 customs notice requires a signed attestation from 10 million CFA francs.
What to do: Ask your bank and customs for the current attestation form before you ship.
Sources: BCEAO, external financial relations regulation, chapter VI (in French) (opens in a new tab); OTR customs notice 007/2018, export attestations, May 2018 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Investment agency reform
Cabinet adopted decrees on August 26, 2026 dissolving SAZOF, moving its duties to API-ZF, and setting a new approval procedure.
What to do: Check which body issues your approval and which decree applies before you file.
Sources: Togo Council of Ministers report, August 26, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab); Togo investment ministry, API-ZF project page (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Business visas and residence
Cabinet adopted a decree on October 6, 2026 with a two-working-day business visa deadline and an investor residence card of up to three years.
What to do: Confirm the decree has been published and is in force before you arrange travel.
Sources: Investment ministry, business visa news, October 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab); Togo Council of Ministers report, October 6, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
Fuel prices
The government raised fuel prices on May 27 and September 11, 2026, and gasoline reached 817 CFA francs a liter.
What to do: Check current fuel prices before you set transport and energy costs.
Source: BCEAO, economic note on WAEMU countries, September 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 31, 2026
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Free zone reform
Cabinet adopted a special economic zones bill on October 22, 2026, with time-limited, conditional incentives and more zone types, to reform the 2011 free zone regime.
What to do: Check whether the bill has become law, and its incentive terms, before you count on free zone incentives.
Sources: Togo Council of Ministers report, October 22, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab); Togo investment ministry, investment and free zone laws (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 22, 2026
Electricity
Cabinet adopted an electricity sector bill on October 6, 2026 that would let special economic zones produce their own power or contract directly with producers.
What to do: Check whether the bill has become law before you count on it for a zone's power supply.
Source: Togo Council of Ministers report, October 6, 2026 (in French) (opens in a new tab) · as of October 6, 2026
6. How Promote:Global helps
- Compare Togo with other countriesSet Togo beside other countries on investment momentum, fundamentals and trade access, before site, tax and legal work.
- Find advisors and service firmsAsk an advisory firm a scoped, paid question, or browse firms that list their own services, from legal work to logistics.
- Organize your next stepsKeep each product and market in a project, with a roadmap of steps you work through.
Turn this guide into your Togo project.
Use Promote:Global to explore markets, understand requirements and organize your next steps.
Promote:Togo is an independent guide by Promote:Global, not an official government portal. The organizations named here are independent public and membership bodies, not Promote:Global partners, and every link goes to their own site.
Facts read from public sources, with an editorial cut-off of October 31, 2026. Nothing here is investment, legal, tax or sanctions advice. Check current status with the organization before you rely on it.