As rival powers jostle for influence across West Africa, Togo is staking on strategic ambiguity as a source of strength rather than weakness.
When an attempted military coup in neighbouring Benin collapsed on 7 December, its alleged leader, Lt Col Pascal Tigri, slipped quietly across borders. His presumed route was first into Togo, then onward to a Sahelian capital such as Ouagadougou or Niamey, which was never officially confirmed. Nor was it denied. That silence and the careful calibration behind it, captures the essence of Lomé’s foreign policy under President of the Council Faure Gnassingbé, which depicts the avoidance of public commitments, maximise leverage and keep doors open in every direction.
Togo’s leaders know better than to be seen openly backing a challenge to Benin’s President Patrice Talon, especially when both countries belong to the increasingly fragile Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). But Lomé also makes little effort to hide its warm relations with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the three military-led Sahelian states that quit ECOWAS last January and now formed the Alliance of Sahelian States (AES).
That balancing act is not confined to Africa. In late October, Gnassingbé was welcomed at the Élysée Palace by French President Emmanuel Macron, a reminder of Togo’s long-standing ties with its former colonial power. Less than three weeks later, the Togolese leader was in Moscow for a marked-warmer and more public embrace with President Vladimir Putin.
The Moscow’s visit produced a defence partnership allowing Russian naval vessels to use the port of Lomé, one of West Africa’s best-equipped deepwater harbours and a vital supply gateway for landlocked Sahelian countries. The agreement also covers intelligence-sharing and joint exercises, alongside plans to expand economic cooperation and reopen embassies closed since the 1990s. While Lomé insists it has no intention of hosting Russia’s Africa Corps, the symbolism alone was enough to unsettle Paris.
French officials are acutely aware of what they are losing. Once among France’s most dependable allies, Togo now appears determined to demonstrate that loyalty is negotiable. When the Benin coup attempt unfolded, Macron moved swiftly to underline France’s readiness to provide specialist military support to ECOWAS states defending constitutional order. An implicit contrast with Russia’s readiness to engage with military regimes.
However, with regards to Lomé, the message is that this is not a zero-sum game. Togolese officials frame their outreach to Moscow as diversification rather than defection. They point to a broader regional trend; as Togo and Gabon joined the Commonwealth while remaining active in the Francophonie; Ghana an anglophone Commonwealth mainstay, has since joined the French-speaking bloc. To many West African leaders, being asked to choose a side, feels like an outdated Cold War reflex that ignores local priorities.
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