The UK is the largest donor to Commonwealth institutions and their programmes. We support reform of the Commonwealth Secretariat to help place the organisation on a more sustainable financial footing and encourage member states to contribute as appropriate to support Commonwealth activity.

The UK engages with the African Union (AU) on a range of regional issues, including political developments in West Africa.

While the Foreign Secretary has not held direct discussions with African Union counterparts specifically on Togo, UK officials regularly exchange views with AU representatives on governance, stability, and democracy across the region.

The UK works alongside the AU in supporting democratic outcomes in Africa through high-quality AU election observation and AU engagement during political transitions.

Through our partnership with the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), we continue to support the AU to train and deploy election observers, with regular assessment of its effectiveness.

The UK and France maintain regular diplomatic engagement on regional developments in West Africa, including Togo. Officials from our Embassy in Abidjan recently met French counterparts in Togo to exchange views on the political situation.

The UK engages with the African Union (AU) on a range of regional issues, including political developments in West Africa.

While the Foreign Secretary has not held direct discussions with African Union counterparts specifically on Togo, UK officials regularly exchange views with AU representatives on governance, stability, and democracy across the region.

The UK works alongside the AU in supporting democratic outcomes in Africa through high-quality AU election observation and AU engagement during political transitions.

Through our partnership with the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), we continue to support the AU to train and deploy election observers, with regular assessment of its effectiveness.

The UK and France maintain regular diplomatic engagement on regional developments in West Africa, including Togo. Officials from our Embassy in Abidjan recently met French counterparts in Togo to exchange views on the political situation.

The UK values the contribution of all Commonwealth members. Working together we can maximise the impact of the Commonwealth for the benefit of all members.

Togo attended its first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in 2024, represented by Prime Minister Dogbé. The Commonwealth is currently working with Togo to develop a roadmap for technical assistance to support its national priorities. In July 2024, former Commonwealth Secretary-General visited Togo and met with President Gnassingbé.

Gabon is currently partially suspended from the Commonwealth and is therefore unable to fully participate. However, in November 2024, Gabon permitted a Commonwealth Expert Team to observe their constitutional reform referendum and discuss technical support. In April 2025, they also welcomed a Commonwealth Observer Group to monitor their presidential elections. The Group assessed the elections as largely transparent, peaceful and conducted in accordance with the Gabon's legislative framework.

The UK Government engages with the Government of Togo through our High Commission in Accra. We encourage a peaceful and inclusive dialogue in Togo, to work through constitutional reforms; and we urge the Government to set a new date for legislative and regional elections without delay. The UK will continue to engage partners, including ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), and monitor for further developments.

There are currently no confirmed plans for a visit to Togo within the next year. The UK Government engages with the Government of Togo through our High Commission in Accra. The UK looks forward to welcoming Togo to the Francophone Africa Trade and Investment Summit in October 2023 in London.

Mr Speaker, if I may, I will ask the noble Lord Goldsmith to write to my hon. Friend with the details.

What consideration have the Government given to opening two new high commissions in the two newest Commonwealth countries, Gabon and Togo?

The UK Government has not provided bilateral support on security to the Togolese Government in the last year. The Minister for Armed Forces visited Togo in June to understand the impact of the deteriorating situation in the Sahel on regional security and to discuss how the UK could support regional initiatives in response. We are supportive of the efforts of the African Union, Economic Community of West African States and the Accra Initiative, and at the UK-Ghana Security Dialogue in July set out our ambition to support regional partners to galvanise international support for such efforts.

Togo was welcomed into the Commonwealth family by a consensus of all member states at the Kigali Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June 2022. Preceding this, a detailed four step readiness assessment was undertaken by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Scotland, submitted this assessment to Commonwealth Heads of Government for consideration at the CHOGM Leaders' Retreat. Togo's accession was confirmed by the CHOGM Leaders Statement of 25 June. The UK welcomes Togo's accession to the Commonwealth, demonstrating the continued relevance and vitality of this truly global association.

Girls in Togo have lower enrolment rates than boys and are more likely to drop out of schooling. The Togolese Government's education strategy up to 2025 is focused on achieving universal primary education, extending coverage in rural and poor communities, reducing illiteracy, and developing quality secondary, technical, vocational, and higher education courses.

The UK Government was pleased to welcome the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, to the UK in 2021 for the Global Education Summit, which raised $4 billion to support the education of vulnerable children worldwide. An upcoming education conference in December, being organised by UK education stakeholders in Lomé, will bring together key education players from the UK and across West Africa to discuss ways of ensuring that education systems meet the future needs of the 21st Century.

The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating situation across the Sahel, and the tangible impact this has on security across West Africa. The Minister for Armed Forces was pleased to visit Togo last month and have the opportunity to reiterate the UK's continued commitment to the region, as well as our support for the African Union, Economic Community of West African States and the Accra Initiative.

The UK was pleased to welcome Togo to the Commonwealth last month; as the organisation continues to grow it will remain a champion of shared values of peace, democracy and stability. The UK welcomed the Presidential election in Togo in February 2020, which was assessed as predominantly free and fair, although not without some irregularities. We noted Togo's progress highlighted in the 2022 UN universal periodic review, in particular on constitutional and institutional reforms, the adoption of core instruments relating to the promotion of international human rights and dialogue with political actors. However, progress on LGBT+ rights remains a concern and we continue to monitor developments. The UK is also following closely the impact on West African states of deteriorating security in the Sahel and of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

We welcomed the largely peaceful conduct of Togo's presidential election on 22 February, and the deployment of election observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union. The UK participated in an unofficial election monitoring mission with the UN in Lomé. We were however deeply concerned that Togo's Electoral Commission revoked the election observer license of the National Consultation of Civil Society of Togo on 18 February, preventing 600 independent observers from participating.

As outlined in our answer to HL16250, the British Government is taking a number of actions to prevent conflict. In Sub-Saharan Africa, we are:

• Using funding from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) which has led, for example, to the roll out of new peacekeeping-intelligence architecture in the three missions with the highest number of casualties - Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic. Our sizeable funding contribution to the UN is used as leverage to advocate for UN reform and improve the way it operates.

• Promoting peace and security in Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali through diplomacy and targeted support. We support UN and French security efforts through direct contributions to MINUSMA in Northern Mali and the deployment of three RAF Chinook helicopters to France’s Counter-Terrorism Operation Barkhane. We work closely with the G5 and other partners to provide life-saving assistance and protection to people on the frontline of conflict. The UK is also focusing on developing programmes to tackle the long-term drivers of instability and poverty.

• Urging all parties in Benin to engage in dialogue to overcome their differences and find a peaceful solution. We share the concerns of the EU, France, the US and the UN about acts of violence in Benin following the 28 April legislative elections.

• Regularly addressing the situation in the North-West and South-West (Anglophone) regions of Cameroon with international partners including the UN, EU, Commonwealth and African Union to encourage and support efforts to resolve the crisis. The UK remains deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian and human rights situation in the Anglophone regions and the impact it is having on the lives of ordinary civilians. We have shared experiences with the Government of Cameroon (GoC) on conflict resolution; and remain ready to provide further support. We raised our concerns during briefings at the UN Security Council on 4 and 12 June, and led on a statement with Austria at the UN Human Rights Council in March, which was supported by 39 countries, calling on the GoC to establish a credible political dialogue to address root causes of the conflict.

• Providing the Central African Republic (CAR) with significant humanitarian spend (£63m since 2013) and core contributions to key multilateral organisations on the ground, such as the World Bank and the EU. Support to UN peacekeeping efforts include assessed contributions (£40.5m per annum to MINUSCA peacekeeping mission and €2m to the EU Training Mission).

• Pressing our long-term approach to stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including through significant contributions to the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). We are supporting security reforms, stabilisation and peace building initiatives through DFID programmes and the CSSF.

• Providing training to Nigeria’s armed forces combat insurgent groups, support communities to better respond and manage the effects of violent conflict, and to support the reintegration of former members of Boko Haram. We are also working closely with the EU, US and UN to provide technical support to the Nigerian Government to address the underlying causes of intercommunal violence affecting many parts of Nigeria, including the recently announced National Livestock Transformation Plan, which aims to mitigate escalating violence between pastoralists and farmers. We are currently reviewing how we might further assist the Nigerian Government in their efforts to tackle conflict in the northeast of the country.

• Building on the work of the UK-hosted London Conference on Somalia in 2017, which brought together Somalia’s key partners, including the UN, EU and a number of members of the Commonwealth. This established a set of agreements that provide the foundation for a more coherent international approach to Somalia with conflict resolution at its core. We are careful to ensure that all UK policies and programmes in Somalia maintain a focus on conflict sensitivity, and regularly undertake conflict analysis to support this. In particular, our work includes activity under the CSSF to address the drivers of conflict and build capacity at both local and regional levels.

• Supporting community-based peacebuilding programmes, in concert with the UN and other international partners, namely the African Union, in areas of instability and conflict in Sudan. The UK has a long standing role in supporting sustainable peace in Sudan. As a member of the Troika and bilaterally, we have supported progress in the Peace Process seeking to find a solution to the conflicts in Darfur and the Two Areas. In addition the UK plays a leading role in the UN Security Council, particularly as the penholder on the mandate for UNAMID – the African Union hybrid Mission in Darfur.

• The Minister for Africa met with Togolese President Gnassingbé and reiterated the importance of delivering 2020 Presidential elections on time and a return to inclusive politics. The UK continues to encourage all parties to avoid violence and respect the human rights of all Togolese people. The UK supports the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) brokered roadmap, along with the EU, which has seen Togo recently adopt two-term limits on presidential terms, in line with other ECOWAS states. The change however does not apply retrospectively and has been rejected by the opposition.

Draft Answer

As the Prime Minister set out during her visit to Africa last Summer, which I accompanied her on, the Government is committed to advancing our trade relationship with Africa. DIT has set up the Africa Trade Services Unit to act as the single point of contact for UK companies exporting to Africa. The Unit responds to all Africa trade enquiries, including those related to Togo to improve companies’ trading capabilities and promote trade.

The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 enables the UK to put in place a trade preferences scheme for developing countries that maintains duty-free, quota-free access to Least Developed Countries, including Togo.

The British Government does not have diplomatic representation in Togo. Our non-Resident Ambassador – the British High Commissioner to Accra – provides our diplomatic representation and recently received accreditation from the Government of Togo. In March, our Honorary Consul also received accreditation. This progress demonstrates the strengthening of our bilateral relationship with Togo and enables us to progress our relationship further.

Our non-Resident Ambassador has discussed how the UK-Togo relationship can expand with President Gnassingbé, specifically concerning economic development and improved trade links.