Togo's president will face few obstacles to his power

Significance

Plans to hold regional elections -- a key plank of President Faure Gnassingbe’s administrative decentralisation programme -- have been repeatedly postponed since first announced in 2019. These elections are meant to serve as an initial step towards the creation of a senate as a second legislative chamber.

Impacts

• Increased military spending and efforts to improve civil-military relations may reduce the short-term coup risk.
• Internal divisions and political repression will further weaken the opposition.
• Google's undersea internet cable and its planned connection to Togo will bolster Faure's ambitions of fostering a regional tech hub.