( 4 minutes read)
· The West African nation Togo is taking every care to ward off Covid-19, such as strict emergency sanitary measures, closing the borders with neighboring countries
· The closure of its borders has severely affected the cross-border movement of goods, particularly agriculture produces, which it exports to neighboring countries like Ghana, Benin and Ivory Coast
· Economic growth of the country had severely contracted in 2020 and was estimated at 1.8% for 2020 compared to an official forecast of 5.5%
The West African nation Togo is taking every care to ward off Covid-19, such as strict emergency sanitary measures, closing the borders with neighboring countries. These measures have been strictly introduced since April last year. The result is that Togo reported relatively low numbers of 13,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 125 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic.
But the strict measures taken by the country have dealt a deadly blow to the fragile economy of the country. The closure of its borders has severely affected the cross-border movement of goods, particularly agriculture products, which it exports to neighboring countries like Ghana, Benin and Ivory Coast.
The top five destinations for Togo’s exports in 2019 were Burkina Faso, Ghana and Benin,, Ivory Coaat and Benin, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Economic growth of the country had severely contracted in 2020 and was estimated at 1.8% for 2020 compared to an official forecast of 5.5%.
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Public transport costs have gone up pushing up the prices of basic necessities including services. A number of people have lost their jobs and livelihood. They are all waiting for the borders to reopen and commercial activities to pick up.
The World Bank last year said in a report that the combination of closed borders, social distancing measures and restrictions on travel had delivered a heavy blow to Togo’s economic activity. The bank has approved a $70 million credit to help Togo revive its economy — whose growth activity is forecast to accelerate by 4.8%, as per the Economy and Finance Minister Sani Yaya said in April on public television.
