Botswana I Ethopia I The Gambia I Ghana I Kenya I Malawi I Mauritius I Namibia I Nigeria I Senegal I South Africa I Swaziland I Tanzania I Togo I Uganda I Zambia I Zimbabwe After a decade of World Bank and IMF-sponsored reforms – or rather attempts at reform – the Togolese economy remains stagnant, with GDP growth of just 1% in 2005 compared with population growth of about 2.72%. Lack of transparency in government institutions has hampered efforts to implement economic reform measures and encourage foreign investment. Periodic bouts of political unrest have been problematic for Togo’s development.
The success of Ecobank in Togo, where it is headquartered (it operates in 12 other central and western African countries using common policies and standards) is all the more impressive then. Although no figures are available for Ecobank’s Togo unit, the bank had assets of almost $2 billion and 109 branches in 2004, the last year for which figures are available. The bank also had record operating income of $207.8 million – an increase of 32.6% over 2003 – and made a profit before tax of $60.3 million up by 24.4%.