Togo’s electricity consumption was just **217 kWh per person in 2023**, roughly 6% of the global average of 3,794 kWh per person—or about seventeen times lower. Domestic low-carbon electricity generation amounted to only 20 kWh per person, equivalent to roughly a tenth of consumption. Togo also imported a net **1.1 TWh** of electricity. The supplied data do not identify the sources of these imports or quantify domestic fossil electricity generation, so a complete clean-versus-fossil breakdown is not possible. Such low electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, industry and digital services, while limiting opportunities to replace fossil fuels with clean electricity.

Is Electricity Growing in Togo?

Electricity consumption in Togo has not surpassed its historical peak: the 2023 level was about **7 kWh per person below the 2014 record of 224 kWh**, a decline of roughly 3%. Low-carbon generation shows a much larger shortfall, with the latest 20 kWh per person about two-thirds below the 1995 record of 58 kWh. These figures indicate that neither measure has reached a new per-person record, although they do not establish whether electricity increased or decreased in the latest year alone. This prolonged shortfall is concerning: Togo needs sustained growth in electricity supply, particularly clean electricity, to support development and future demand from electrification and digital technologies.

Suggestions

Togo could prioritize utility-scale solar, rooftop installations and solar-powered local grids, alongside stronger transmission and distribution networks. **South Africa**, a relevant African reference, generates about 20 TWh of solar electricity and 12 TWh each from wind and nuclear; its experience offers examples across several low-carbon technologies. Pakistan’s roughly 41 TWh of solar electricity and India’s 192 TWh also demonstrate the scale solar can achieve in developing economies. Togo should assess promising wind locations and consider nuclear electricity as part of long-term planning, including regional cooperation and workforce development. France’s roughly 379 TWh of nuclear generation illustrates how nuclear can anchor a large clean electricity supply. These regions offer useful lessons rather than directly transferable output targets: Togo should build a strategy suited to its own demand and electricity system.

History

Togo’s recorded low-carbon electricity history is dominated by fluctuating hydropower rather than sustained expansion. During the 1990s, annual changes repeatedly alternated between gains and losses of about **0.1 TWh**, including increases in 1990–1991 and declines in 1996–1997. The supplied records show another decline in 2001 and no change in 2004. From 2013 through 2019, hydropower again moved up and down, with consecutive declines in 2017–2018 followed by a recovery in 2019. A notable positive development came in **2021, when solar generation increased by about 0.1 TWh**. Building on that solar growth, while broadening clean electricity supply, would help turn this uneven history into sustained expansion.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade