Generally, doing business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

Doing business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy.

• Starting a Business: Togo made starting a business easier by enabling the one-stop shop to publish notices of incorporation and eliminating the requirement to obtain an economic operator card.
• Registering Property: Togo made transferring property easier by lowering the property registration tax rate.
• Protecting Minority Investors: Togo strengthened minority investor protections by introducing greater requirements for disclosure of related-party transactions to the board of directors and by making it possible for shareholders to inspect the documents pertaining to related-party transactions and to appoint auditors to conduct an inspection of such transactions.
• Paying Taxes: Togo made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the payroll tax rate.

Togo stands out from the crowd in the latest “Doing Business“ ranking. For the second year in a row, the country is among the ten economies that improved the most. Moving up from rank 156 (2018) to rank 97 (2020), Togo became the best-performing West African country. The country implemented reforms making it easier to start a business and access credit and electricity. It also lowered fees for construction permits, and streamlined property registration procedures. Nigeria was also among the top ten business climate improvers, notably thanks to improved contract enforcement

(Togo First) - Togo recently launched Trade Barriers Africa, an online mechanism aimed at boosting trade by removing non-tariff barriers (NTBs) between African countries. The facility is a component of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

"From now on, thanks to Trade Barriers Africa, Togolese traders will be able to report these barriers, also known as non-tariff barriers, and obtain their removal with the support of national authorities," said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in a statement released January 31, 2022.

The platform allows traders and companies that move goods across Togo’s borders to report NTBs that impede their activity in the country. According to the UN body, such NTBs include, among others, “quotas, excessive import documents or unjustified packaging requirements.”

"Trade Barriers Africa is a concrete response to the daily problems of micro, small and medium-sized cross-border businesses. If they should thrive, it is imperative that non-tariff barriers, which not only lengthen the procedures for transporting goods but also cost traders, disappear," said Simon Ognadou, National Focal Point of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Local Consumption for AfCFTA.

Trade Barriers Africa was developed by UNCTAD and the African Union, and launched in January 2020, to help make trade in Africa easier and cheaper. So far, UNCTAD said, the platform has reportedly helped remove over 600 non-tariff barriers.