Underdeveloped Country: Togo - Assignment Example

Underdeveloped country, Togo Togo is a small, thin sub-Saharan nation. It borders the Bight of Benin in the south; Ghana lies to the west; Beninto the east; and to the north Togo is bound by Burkina Faso. The land size is 21,925 square miles, slightly smaller than West Virginia, with an average population density of 253 people per square mile. In July 2005 the population was estimated to 6.1 million. This low surface does not prevent Togo from being recognized for the great diversity of its landscapes. Togo acquired her independence on April 27, 1960, by an agreement with the French administration under the control of UN, internal autonomy having been acquired in 1956. The first elected president of Togo is Sylvanus Olympio on the elections of 1960 by beating Nicolas Grunitizky, the candidate supported by France. On January 13, 1963, the Olympio government is reversed by a military putsch organized by Nicolas Grunitizky and Etienne Gnassingb Eyadema then simple sergeant. After the assassination of Olympio, Grunitizky proclaims president. Its reign will be short, because in 1967 he is relieved by Gnassingb Eyadema who decided to seize power himself. His dictatorial attitude common to many African dirigants enables him to direct the country during 38 years he dies on February 5, 2005, which will enable him to dispute to Fidel Castro the title of "dictator longest in activity". The current president is the son of the former dictator Faure Gnassinbe, having taken the capacity after "elections". From an economic point of view Togo is one of the poorest countries of Africa. The situation could however have been different. The beginnings of the Eyadema reign of were lucky as well on the political than the economical point of view. It is unfortunately an economy made a long time of corruption, amateurism and improvisations. All the models were copied with more or less failure. From the "Chinese" economical plans, without any budgetary provision, to the Israeli co-operative plan, a common point characterizes all its stages: the absence of long-term prospect and ideological or theoretical bases. In 1967 the new port stimulated the economy, the extraction of phosphate had just been grinds and the modest industrialization still started by the first president seemed to succeed. The courses of the cocoa and the coffee were excellent. During 19 years Togo will know a certain stability period and even a relative prosperity because of very great phosphate resources (4th world producer, the resources are exploited by alien companies which pay a royalty to the Togolese government). However at the end of 1982, the country is in crisis and strongly involves in debt. President does not have other choices than respect the conditions of the experts of the International Monetary International Monetary Fund as well as the World Bank and France," The purse being empty". Alas as it is current in African countries, measurements are awkwardly applied with the result that the economic situation of the country is not improved on the contrary. The agricultural revolution for example starts by the president is by a failure, until our days Togo is still not self-sufficing in food goods. It is a result which however was foreseeable; it is indeed foolish to think that one can make pass directly to tractor a farmer who, all its life, ever uses hoe and machete without any preliminary formation. Hundreds of tractors were thus bought while the hangars where they would have being preserves had not been even built. The only positive point of this revolution was a considerable increase in the cotton production, from 1959 to 1989 the production increased: 2000 to 40000 tons. The industrialization or rather the attempt at industrialization of the country was quite as catastrophic. Until the phosphates boom of the country followed a careful course of industrialization which really succeeded, however later the president launched out in a series of useless and very expensive projects which destroyed practically the economy of the country. An oil refinery delivered ready to function in 1977 which never filled its role because Togo as we know not produce oil and the refinery had been built without taking account of specificities of the Nigerian oil which should be to buy, an electric steel-works which did function only third of its possibilities during a few years, a cement factory which as did function the third of its possibilities and was obliged to close for years because of a lack of . electricity. It is far from being the complete list of the lapses made. The omnipresent corruption has all the levels of the state, the incredible bureaucratic constraints and fuzzy customs laws don't arrange anything to the situation. In 2004 Togo produces 286.2 per annum million kWh and consumes 929.2 million kWh the biggest part supplied by Ghana. In 2006 exports are estimated to $868.4 million and imports, $1.208 billion so the current balance of this country is $-261.9 million. Togo has an external debt in 2005 of $2 billion. The country budget for 2006 evaluated to: revenues: $260.2 million expenditures: $311 million; including capital expenditures of $NA. Togo's small economy is heavily dependent on both commercial and subsistence agriculture, which provides employment for 65% of the labor force. Cocoa, coffee, and cotton together generate about 30% of export earnings. It is a very archaic agriculture; all like German and French before the governmental authorities did not arrive has to convince the peasants to employ the modern methods. Industry and the services in modern Togo occupy respectively only 5% and 30% of the working population. The result is that the country lives only of the international assistance and economic aid. The economic growth turns around 2,6% per annum, the GDP per capita amounts with 300 dollars per annum. In 2005 its GDP was 1.9 billion dollars US. That constitutes indicators on the economic situation of the country. During ten last years, the economic situation was degraded and suffered from the absence of the principal backers. 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 EU initiated a partial resumption of cooperation and development aid to Togo in late 2004 based upon commitments by Togo to expand opportunities for political opposition and liberalize portions of the economy. The situation of this country is however not desperate, but to rectify it a strong political good-will would be needed. The recovery of the public finance passes by the application of measures aiming at supporting the covering of the revenues from taxes thanks to new reforms of the tax department, in particular through tax controls and the computerization of the customs. It would be necessary to put a term at the exceptional procedures of expenditure, to improve the follow-up of the expenditure and to reinforce the tax authorities. The implementation of the priority structural reforms in order to restore confidence and to ensure the viability of the economic revival recorded recently. The resumption of the relationships with the international community, to support the rehabilitation of the social services, public infrastructures and institutional capacities. It would be as necessary as the government begins the improvement of the budgetary governorship and the finance public burdened by the weaknesses with the control of the expenditure, the high level of the national debt and the low volume of the assistance external and the raising of the economic productivity, which is limited by the deficit as regards public infrastructures (in particular in the energy sector), the insufficiency of the resources assigned to health and education, an unfavorable climate of the businesses, and a more general way the weakness of the institutions. The international investigations show that the environment of the businesses in Togo is regarded as being far from satisfactory, even taking into consideration already modest regional standard, particularly with regard to the indicators related to the governorship. If Togo wants to become more attractive destination for the investments, government would have: to reduce the barriers to the trade, the services and the investment to rationalize and simplify the code of the taxes and the code of the customs; to improve the governorship while fighting against the corruption, by improving operation of the legal apparatus by reinforcing the rights of ownership, by promoting the transparency in the public institutions and by reducing the weight of the bureaucracy by creating a single counter in particular. Progress depends on follow-through on privatization, increased openness in government financial operations, progress toward legislative elections, and continued support from foreign donors Read More