LOME, July 7– The seventh edition of the “Made in Togo” fair opened on Monday in Lome, the country’s capital, highlighting local industrial transformation as a driver of economic development.
Held under the theme “Local Processing: A Challenge for the Development of the People’s Economy,” this year’s edition underscores Togo’s efforts to shift away from an economic model reliant on exporting raw materials toward one that emphasizes domestic value addition and industrialization.
Addressing the event, Togolese Minister of Economy and Strategic Monitoring Badanam Patoki said that promoting the consumption of locally made products should be regarded as an essential requirement for safeguarding the country’s economic sovereignty.
“For too long, our popular economy has been characterized by the export of raw materials in their unprocessed form. Continuing along that path means exporting our jobs while importing the added value that should be created at home,” he said.
The minister stressed that processing domestic products locally is the only effective way to secure the future of Togolese youth and ensure that more wealth is retained within the country. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
