This new strategy follows on from the first five-year phase (2019-2024), developed with the support of the ECA and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which aimed to enable the country to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the AfCFTA.

The two-day meeting will bring together public and private stakeholders involved in the implementation of the national trade facilitation policy. It will provide an opportunity to gather the aspirations, expectations, and perspectives of the various sectors with a view to adapting the strategy to the current realities of the continental market.

At the end of the consultation sessions, a revised strategy document will be adopted, accompanied by a duly budgeted priority action plan.

According to Professor Abdoulaye Seck, consultant and resource person supporting the Ministry of Trade, the revision of the national strategy follows an evaluation conducted after five years of implementation. This assessment highlighted the need to take into account new developments facing Togo, particularly international trade tensions and uncertainties related to financing sustainable development, while incorporating the challenges and lessons learned from the first phase. The working groups are therefore called upon to review and enrich the various components of the document, including the strategic diagnosis, guidelines, institutional and technical mechanisms, priority action program, and results monitoring framework.

Developed in 2019 with the support of the ECA, the 2019-2024 strategy has enabled Togo to make significant progress. The final assessment conducted by the National AfCFTA Committee noted significant progress, particularly in terms of streamlining the institutional framework, strengthening export capacities, improving competitiveness, facilitating trade, and promoting female entrepreneurship.

For Katchali Batchassi, Director of Foreign Trade and Chief Negotiator for Togo at the AfCFTA, the Agreement represents a historic opportunity to diversify the national economy and strengthen its resilience. He stressed the need to define new priority actions aligned with the requirements of the continental market, while addressing the challenges of financing their implementation and developing an effective communication plan for economic operators.

This 2026-2030 strategy marks the second five-year cycle of implementation of the Agreement, making Togo the first country to revise its national AfCFTA strategy.

For his part, Komi Tsowou, representative of the UNDP Resident Representative in Togo, recalled that the country has major assets to take full advantage of the AfCFTA, including its economic and commercial potential, its strategic geographical position in West Africa, and its ongoing commitment to regional integration. According to him, the formulation and effective implementation of this second-generation strategy is a decisive step towards achieving Togo's economic and trade development ambitions.

The AfCFTA is one of the twelve flagship projects of the African Union's first ten-year implementation plan for Agenda 2063 and represents a major lever for accelerating continental economic integration and improving the well-being of African populations.