Togo’s Council of Ministers adopted a new competition and consumer protection law on April 1, 2026, replacing old legislation as the government moves to align its economic governance framework with regional trade commitments.
According to the council communiqué, the December 1999 law identified the outgoing legislation as insufficiently adapted to current economic and technological conditions.
The new legislation affirms freedom of commerce and price freedom while prohibiting cartels, abuse of dominant market position, and anti-competitive concentration operations.
The reform also strengthens consumer protections through improved information requirements, greater transparency in commercial transactions, and measures against unfair trade practices.
On the institutional side, the law provides for the creation of a National Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to enforce the rules nationwide.
Togo’s obligations within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU/UEMOA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) formed the stated basis for the modernization.
Countries seeking full participation in the AfCFTA require legal frameworks that guarantee market contestability and protect commercial actors across borders, conditions that the 1999 law no longer meets.
The government said the reform is expected to improve the transparency of economic relations, secure commercial exchanges, and reinforce the country’s attractiveness to investors.
The council also adopted two draft laws authorizing Togo’s accession to the Vienna Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, steps the communiqué linked to the country’s broader nuclear governance agenda following the establishment of its National Nuclear Safety and Security Authority.
