1.0    INTRODUCTION

Transport ensures everyday mobility of people and is crucial to the production and distribution of goods. Transportation is the movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Transport is a key component of growth and globalization, a key necessity for specialization—allowing production and consumption of products to occur at different locations. Throughout history, transport has been a spur to expansion; better transport allows more trade and a greater spread of people. Transportation is one of the oldest forms of human activities whose origin can be traced to the early days of creation .Economic growth has always been dependent on increasing the capacity and rationality of transport. Passenger transport is also the essence of tourism, a major part of recreational transport. Commerce requires the transport of people to conduct business, either to allow face-to-face communication for important decisions or to move specialists from their regular place of work to sites where they are needed. Transport enables trade between people, which is essential for the development of civilizations.

The transport sector in Togo accounts for more than 80% of the movement of goods and persons on daily basis. Despite the strong dominance of the road transport in Togo, other modes of transport such as air, railway and inland water transport also play significant role in the economic development of the country. With regard to the road transport sector, both public and private own and control it though private entities and individuals own the largest share of fleet on the roads in Togo.

2.0 TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN TOGO

Togo has a relatively well-developed road system of about 7,520 km (4,673 mi), of which 2,376 km (1,476 mi) are paved in 2002. One main road, completely paved since 1980, runs north from Lomé to the border with Burkina Faso; another runs east along the coast from Lomé to Aného and onward to the Benin border; and a third runs west along the coast to the Ghana border. Because of extreme variations in weather, the roads that are not paved require constant attention; during the dry season, they are very dusty and crack easily, but during the rainy season they become extremely muddy and are frequently washed out. The Trans–West African Coastal Highway crosses Togo, connecting it to Benin and Nigeria to the east, and Ghana and Ivory Coast to the west. When construction in Liberia and Sierra Leone is finished, the highway will continue west to seven other Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) nations. A paved highway also connects Togo northwards to Burkina Faso and from there north-west to Mali and north-east to Niger.

Togo has 525 km (326 mi) of metergauge rail, including three major lines from Lomé: to Kpalimé (116 km/72 mi), to Aného (44 km/27 mi), and to Atakpamé and Blitta (276 km/171 mi). An 80-km (50-mi) spur goes to Tabligbo. The rail system is operated by Chemin de Fer Togolais. Togo lacks a natural harbor, but in 1968 a major deepwater port east of central Lomé was completed with a loan from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). An autonomous free port at Lomé serves landlocked Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. There is also a phosphate-handling port at Kpémé; sixty two merchant marine ships :six bulk carrier , thirty eight cargo , three carrier , five chemical tanker, three container , one passenger/cargo , three petroleum tanker , one refrigerated cargo , one roll on/roll.

Source:https://www.globaltrade.net/Togo/Transportation-and-Logistics/expert-service-provider.html.

There are seven major airports in Togo, two of which have paved runways. The international airport at Lomé links Togo with other countries of West and Central Africa and with Europe; a second international airport, at Niamtougou, was completed in the early 1980s. Among the international airlines serving Togo is Air Afrique, of which Togo owns a 7% share. Air Togo operates domestic service, flying to airstrips at Atakpamé, Sokodé, Sansanné-Mango, Lama-Kara, Niamtougou, and Dapaong:

3.0         TRANSPORTION STRUCTURE

Passenger transport is divided into public and private transport. In Togo, public transport is scheduled services on fixed routes, while private is vehicles that provide ad hoc services at the riders desire. The latter offers better flexibility, but has lower capacity and a higher environmental impact.

Short-haul transport is dominated by the automobile and mass transit. The latter consists of cars and motorcycle taxi in rural and small cities, supplemented with commuter rail, buses and rapid transit in larger cities. Long-haul transport involves the use of the automobile, trains and aircraft the last of which have become predominantly used for the longest, including intercontinental travel. Buses are the cheapest mode of transport but are not necessarily flexible, and taxis are very flexible but more expensive.

Source:  https://www.iexplore.com/.

3.1      MODE OF TRANSPORT IN TOGO

Currently, in Togo, there are several modes of transportation which can be employed by people for their movements as well as movement of goods and services from place to place. These forms of transport have been classified mainly into namely: air, land (rail, road), water.

Air transport which has been described as the fastest mode of transport across continents is one of the most important and economic means of moving persons and goods from Togo to other parts of the world. Water transport exists in two main forms namely; maritime transport which is the use of the seas for the movement of goods and persons and inland water transport which is the use of rivers, canals and other inland navigable waters to move goods from place to place. Road transportation which is the movement of goods and services by road is the most frequently used and flexible form of transport among the rest.

Each of these forms of transport has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, the choice of a transport mode depends on such factors as quantity of cargo, nature of cargo, destination of cargo and expected time of arrival of the cargo. For example, water transport, especially maritime transport, has been identified as an efficient and effective means of moving very large quantities of bulk cargos from one continent to the other. Again most inland movements of goods make use of land transports such as road and rail transport. Road transport has gained the widest form of acceptance among the other form of transport because of the fact that it enables goods to be delivered from door to door. Roads most often extend to remote locations of Togo where other forms of transport do not extend to.

3.2      MEANS OF TRANSPORT IN TOGO

Means of transport are any of the different kinds of transport facilities used to carry people or cargo. The various means of transport in Togo include cars,bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, ships and boats, and aircrafts.

Among the international airlines serving Togo is Air Afrique, of which Togo owns a 7% share. Air Togo operates domestic service, flying to airstrips at Atakpamé, Sokodé, Sansanné-Mango, Lama-Kara, Niamtougou, and Dapaong.

Bicycle travel in the main cities is dangerous and not for the faint of heart. In rural areas, a mountain bike is best and is a common way to get around. Buses are the most reliable way to get around, especially for long-distance trips. Rakiéta buses are more reliable than those of other companies. Buses almost always operate with guaranteed seating and fixed departure times. Togo has an extensive network of dilapidated bush taxis, which can be anything from an old pick-up truck to a normal sedan car or nine- or 15-seat people carriers. There is a south-north route from Lome to Cinkasse that is served by a large, air-conditioned bus known as the Climatize Bus. A ‘bush taxi’ is used for most destination that requires long distance travel. These taxis are usually private cars, or sometimes mini vans depending on the popularity of the route. Taxi-motos (motorcycle taxis) – also called zemi-johns – are everywhere in most cities in Togo. They are also a handy way to get to remote locations in the bush. In Lome and around most other places in Togo, you will have the choice of two types of taxi: a car or riding as a pillion passenger on a motorbike. Moto-taxis are a quick way of zipping around the city since they can skip traffic and are more economical than their car counterpart.

Source: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/togo/.

4.0 CHALLENGES OF TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN TOGO.

In spite of the enormous contributions of transport system in Togo to organizational performance and the overall economy, the sector is faced with several challenges. The transportation system in Togo is characterized by poor infrastructure, weak institutional mechanism for regulating the sector, poor maintenance, high initial capital requirement, lack of transport management expert and poorly trained operators and environmental pollution.

Generally, the transport sector in Togo is characterized by a limited regulatory and institutional effectiveness and lack of a clear and comprehensive policy. In particular, although the road sector is the dominant transport sector, there are no standard regulations on area of coverage, standards of operation, maintenance of vehicles and related emissions. This has resulted in an industry which is characterized by no entrance and exit restrictions resulting in unreliable, uncomfortable and unsafe services.

Finance is a limiting factor due to the capital-intensive nature of public transport operations. Financing of vehicles in the Togolese road transport industry is left completely in the hands of the individuals who have the ability to raise the needed capital to afford vehicles. There is also the problem of foreign exchange which affects transport management in Togo. The cost of most transport inputs including fuel, spare parts and tyres are all tied with foreign exchange rate. This means that an increase in the rate of current exchange results in increases in prices of these items, hence increased cost of transporting goods and persons in the nation. What is more, the prevailing situation has made it very difficult for transport owners in the nation to easily replace vehicles or vehicle parts which have outlived their usefulness. Therefore, vehicles get older, cost of operations and maintenance soar up, eventually operations grind to a halt.

Regarding transport infrastructure, poorly constructed and poorly maintained roads a common in most Togo. This situation hinders the ability of the transport sector to develop to its full potential. Aside the poor state of infrastructural development, there are weak institutional mechanisms for regulating the transport sector which has impeded the performance of the transport sector. Although several policies and conventions have been developed in developing nations to ensure efficiency in the transport sector, there is a general lack of effective implementation leading to poor results of such policies and conventions.

The cost of experts in terms of maintenance culture to within the transport sector has also become a major concern. The high cost of maintenance has led to the usage of poorly maintained vehicles which are prone to frequent breakdowns and cargo damage. The lack of adequate number of transport experts coupled with the high labor cost for these persons have also affected transport management in developing nations including Togo.

Transport is a major use of energy and burns most of the world's petroleum. This creates air pollution, including nitrous oxides and particulates, and is a significant contributor to global warming through emission of carbon dioxide, for which transport is the fastest-growing emission sector. By sub-sector, road transport is the largest contributor to global warming. . Cars and vehicles provide high flexibility with low capacity, but require high energy and area use, and are the main source of harmful noise and air pollution in most cities in Togo. Other environmental impacts of transport systems in Togo includes traffic congestion and automobile- oriented urban sprawl, which can consume natural habitat and agricultural lands.

（Bruce Emmanuel，Assistant Researcher of CWAS，School of Management and Economics of UESTC）

Please refer to the Chinese Version published on Huanqiu.com, one of the top three rating news media in China. Huanqiu.com is a national rating on line media platform, approved by the publisher of People's Daily and the Central Internet Information Office of China. This column is to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners on West African issues.

Link：https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/4463fcZoN1U