World Bank backs $200 million push to modernize Togo’s transport network
The World Bank Group has approved $200 million in financing to overhaul transport and logistics infrastructure in Togo, channeled through the Logistics a…..
The World Bank Group has approved $200 million in financing to overhaul transport and logistics infrastructure in Togo, channeled through the Logistics and Transport Services Improvement Program (PASLT).
The program rests on three pillars. First, crews will rehabilitate the railway line connecting the Autonomous Port of Lomé to the Adétikopé Industrial Platform, shifting container traffic from road to rail. Second, planners aim to ease urban mobility across Greater Lomé.
Third, the initiative will strengthen links between high-potential farming zones and local, regional, and international markets.
Officials expect the effects to reach far beyond the capital. Roughly 2.2 million residents of Greater Lomé stand to benefit from reduced port congestion and cleaner air, as fewer trucks clog city streets hauling containers.
Meanwhile, an estimated 400,000 people in rural areas including the Kara, Savanes, Plateaux, and Plaine de Mô regions should gain easier access to markets and basic services.
Women make up 51% of that rural population, a detail officials highlighted as central to the program’s design.
By moving freight onto rail and easing bottlenecks at the port, the program targets a long-standing drag on Togo’s economy: congestion that slows trade and raises costs for businesses and farmers alike.
Whether the railway rehabilitation and urban mobility upgrades arrive on schedule will determine how quickly these benefits reach the communities the World Bank says it’s targeting.
Emmanuel DABLA
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