Togo, a West African country, is one of the smallest countries in the world, with a width of less than 115 km. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in sub-Saharan Africa.
Togo, with a population of about 10 million, is surrounded by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. Lome, the economic and cultural center of the country, lies in the south near the Gulf of Guinea.
1 Emmanuel Adebayor
Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor was born on February 26, 1984. He is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Togolese champions National Semasi.
He played for Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace as well as English teams such as Metz in France, Monaco in Monaco, Real Madrid in Spain, Istanbul Basakehir and Kayserispor in Turkey and Club Olimpia in Paraguay.
While at Arsenal, he was voted African Footballer of the Year in 2008 and in his subsequent football career, he eventually became the most recognized signing in Paraguayan football and the highest paid player in national history when he joined Olimpia Asuncion in 2020.
Adebayor played for Togo at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the country’s first and only appearance at the World Cup. Adebayor was one of the players involved in the January 2010 shooting of the Togo team bus en route to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, after which he retired from national club duties.
He returned to the Togo team in 2013 for the African Cup of Nations in South Africa, where he helped them reach the quarter-finals. He is Togo’s all-time top scorer with 32 goals.
2 Silvanus Epiphanio Olympio
Sylvanus Olympias. Ludwig Wegmann – Image from Wikimedia Commons
On September 6, 1902, Silvanus Epifanio Olimpio was born. From 1958 until his assassination in 1963, he was a Togolese politician who served as Prime Minister and then President of Togo.
He comes from the powerful Olimpio family, which included his uncle Octaviano Olimpio, one of Togo’s richest men in the early 1900s.
After graduating from the London School of Economics, he joined Unilever as General Manager of the company’s African operations. After World War II, Olympio became a prominent figure in Togo’s independence movement, and his party won the 1958 election, making him the country’s prime minister.
When Togo gained independence, he won the 1961 presidential election, making him the country’s first president. He was killed during the Togolese Revolution of 1963.
3 Gnassingbe Eyadema
Togo, like other African countries, has experienced political unrest. After independence from France in 1960, the first president, Silvanus Epifanio Olimpio, was ousted in a military coup in 1967 by the country’s longest-serving president, Gnassingbe Ayadema. Yadema ruled for 38 years until his death in 2005.
His son, Faure Gnassingbe, assumed the presidency and has been in charge ever since. Togo has several languages but French is the most widely spoken language. Agriculture is an important factor for the slow economic growth of the country.
4 Faure Gnanasinghe
President of Togo Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe Ayadema signs a condolence book in memory of HRH Queen Elizabeth II at Lancaster House on September 18, 2022. Photo by Rory Arnold – Wikimedia Commons
Since taking office, President Faure Gnassingbe has worked to promote national reconciliation and a peaceful state of politics in Togo. He established an ongoing dialogue with the entire political class, promoting democratic open-mindedness and inclusiveness in the management process of public affairs.
Due to its bold regulations, the Togolese economy has experienced significant growth and has reached an active stage of globalization. President Faure Gnassingbe’s primary concern now is to improve the population’s standard of living, with a specific focus on the desperate.
President Gnassingbe holds a Master of Management degree from Paris-Dauphin University as well as an MBA from George Washington University. He implemented several proactive measures to improve Togo’s economic outlook and encourage investors to support expansion and development.
At the community level, President Faure Gnassingbe is currently overseeing ECOWAS’ response to the Ebola virus disease after chairing the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
5 Tabi Boni
Tabi Boni is the son of the well-known Afro-funk musician Itadi Boni. The Togo-born rapper, who now lives in Washington, D.C., gained popularity in the Washington metro area with his radio single “The Pocket.”