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Region:
Western Africa
Capital:
Lomé
Population:
5 556 812 (July
2004 est.)
Surface
area:
56 785 square
km
Currency:
CFA franc
GDP
per capita:
$1 500 (2003
est.)
Background:
French
Togoland became
Togo in 1960.
Gen. Gnassingbe
EYADEMA, installed
as military ruler
in 1967, is Africa's
longest-serving
head of state.
Despite the facade
of multiparty
elections instituted
in the early
1990s, the government
continues to
be dominated
by President
EYADEMA, whose
Rally of the
Togolese People
(RPT) party has
maintained power
almost continually
since 1967. In
addition, Togo
has come under
fire from international
organizations
for human rights
abuses and is
plagued by political
unrest. While
most bilateral
and multilateral
aid to Togo remains
frozen, the European
Union initiated
a partial resumption
of cooperation
and development
aid to Togo in
late 2004.
Economy
– overview:
This
small sub-Saharan
economy is heavily
dependent on
both commercial
and subsistence
agriculture,
which provides
employment for
65% of the labour
force. Some basic
foodstuffs must
still be imported.
Cocoa, coffee,
and cotton generate
about 40% of
export earnings,
with cotton being
the most important
cash crop. Togo
is the world's
fourth-largest
producer of phosphate,
but production
fell an estimated
22% in 2002 due
to power shortages
and the cost
of developing
new deposits.
The government's
decade-long effort,
supported by
the World Bank
and the IMF,
to implement
economic reform
measures, encourage
foreign investment,
and bring revenues
in line with
expenditures
has moved slowly.
United
Nations Membership
date:
20 September
1960
New
York Mission:
Permanent Mission
of Togo to the
United Nations
112 East 40th
Street
New York, N.Y.
10016 USA
Telephone: 212-490-3455
/ 3456
Fax: 212-983-6684
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