Togo’s decentralization journey has been long, uneven, and politically complex. Yet in recent years—especially since the landmark municipal elections of 2019 and the regional elections of 2024—the country has taken meaningful steps toward establishing a functioning system of local governance.
A study exploring the perceptions of municipal councilors and prefects in Togo, recently published in Discover Sustainability, sheds fresh light on how local officials themselves perceive the reforms, their financing, and their impact on local governance and service delivery. Their views reveal a decentralization process that is politically anchored but still institutionally fragile.
A Decentralization Framework Still Under Construction
Togo’s Constitution of 1992 provided the legal foundation for decentralization, and several follow-up laws—including the 2007 decentralization law and elements of the 2018–2022 National Development Plan—formalized the creation of municipalities and the transfer of responsibilities. The real turning point, however, arrived in 2019 with the first municipal elections in more than three decades, bringing 1527 local councilors into office. Subsequent reforms, such as the creation of the Local Government Support Fund (FACT) and the National Training Agency for Local Authorities (ANFCT), were designed to strengthen the system through inter-municipal equalization and sustained capacity-building.
Local governments in Togo are responsible for basic service delivery (including water, sanitation, local roads, markets, and community infrastructure), local development planning (implementing projects aligned with national development priorities), citizen engagement (fostering participation through elected councils and local commissions) and administrative functions (managing local civil registry, permits, and local taxation). Unlike in some other countries in the region, local governments in Togo do not bear responsibility for key social sector services such as education or health care.
Governance and Participation: Strengths and Persistent Gaps
Survey results indicate that Togo’s decentralized legal and institutional architecture is widely recognized—and generally appreciated—by local officials. Over 60% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the constitutional and legislative framework, including the clear legal recognition of local governments and the legal definition of their powers and resources. The study shows especially high satisfaction (74.5%) with the constitution’s explicit recognition of local authorities and strong approval (69.2%) for the legal definition of municipal responsibilities.
On the governance side, municipal officials express broad confidence in the effectiveness of local democracy and the national framework for citizen participation. Roughly three–quarters of officials report satisfaction with municipal elections, democratic functioning, and the legal provisions for participation.
Yet satisfaction falls sharply when it comes to consultation: only 46.6% believe municipal officials are meaningfully involved in shaping decentralization-related regulations. This gap reflects an enduring centralization reflex—common in many West African states—where legal reforms move faster than institutional practices on the ground. Nearly one in five officials perceives citizen participation in practice as weak or inconsistent, and issues such as gender inclusion generate higher levels of indifference or dissatisfaction.
Financing Local Governments: The Achilles’ Heel of Reform
The financing of decentralization remains the area generating the most skepticism among local leaders. Officials value the transparency of shared tax flows and the redistributive purpose of FACT allocations; more than 72% express satisfaction with FACT’s role in promoting municipal solidarity, and 74.3% are satisfied with the reconciliation of tax collections and transfers executed by the national tax agency, OTR.
Three concerns stand out:
- Limited financial autonomy: A majority of respondents are dissatisfied with the degree of fiscal independence that municipalities actually enjoy.
- Dependence on central actors: More than 60% are dissatisfied with how FACT investment allocations are implemented through ANADEB—reflecting frustration with central intermediaries in what should be a local development mechanism.
- Uneven local capacity: Administrative and technical constraints continue to weaken planning, budgeting, and project execution in many municipalities.
These insights confirm what second-generation fiscal federalism predicts: decentralization only works when local governments possess both the resources and the authority to make meaningful decisions.
A Reform Path Still in Progress
Despite recognizing challenges, many municipal leaders perceive improvements in local service delivery since decentralization was revived. Over 80% report satisfaction with municipal service performance, and around two-thirds express confidence in emerging transparency and monitoring frameworks. There is also broad recognition of the growing importance of territorial planning, climate considerations, and urban strategy—all areas where national-local coordination is becoming more visible.
Overall, the perceptions of local officials portray a decentralization process that has achieved important institutional milestones but still lacks the financial, administrative, and participatory depth needed to deliver on its full promise. The operational realities—limited fiscal space, uneven capacities, and weak local participation—continue to constrain local governments’ autonomy and effectiveness.
As such, the next phase of decentralization will be critical in transforming the promise of decentralized governance in Togo into sustainable territorial development. This will depend not on new laws, but on strengthening fiscal transfer systems, building local capacities, ensuring real citizen participation, and reducing the gap between central intent and local implementation.
Read the (Open Access) article:
Pali, E., Aholou, C.C. & Yatta, F.P. Municipal elected officials’ perceptions of decentralization and its financing in Togo. Discov Sustain 6, 931 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-01877-4
Note: The Feature Image for this blog post has been generated with the help of AI.
