Bilateral relations between Togo and Germany are close and friendly.

Germany supports the ambitious pro-development reform process in the country, as illustrated not least by Togo’s inclusion in the G20 initiative Compact with Africa in 2018. Togo would like even more intensive cooperation with Germany and is keen to attract German investment.

Since 2012, Germany has been working on the following priorities in the field of development cooperation with Togo: good governance and decentralisation, agriculture and rural development, health, and sustainable economic development. There are also activities in the energy sector. Germany is one of Togo’s largest bilateral donors.

The Hanns Seidel Foundation, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) are among German organisations with offices in Togo. Various German church-affiliated relief agencies and numerous German NGOs are also active in the country, running a large number of development projects.

Germany’s trade relations with Togo have the potential for expansion. In 2024, Germany exported goods valued at 56.4 million euro to Togo and imported Togolese goods worth 8.4 million euro.

The Goethe-Institut in Lomé has been active since 1961. There are a number of partnerships between the University of Lomé and German universities, including Münster University of Applied Sciences, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the University of Bayreuth, the University of Kassel and Berlin’s Humboldt-Universität. A German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) lector supports these partnerships. Cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and German universities with, for instance, the University of Lomé in the field of climate change impacts (WASCAL project) is particularly intensive.

Five schools in Togo receive support as part of the Schools: Partners for the Future (PASCH) programme. In Togo, some 200,000 pupils are learning German, while there are around 6700 students studying German (as their major or as an additional subject).

From 1884 to 1914, Togo was part of the German colonial empire.