Debt in Togo

Formal borrowing in Togo is available through banks, savings and credit cooperatives, other microfinance institutions, and some digital-payment-linked products. BCEAO reported 17 credit institutions in Togo on 31 December 2025. The Ministry of Finance listed 70 savings and credit institutions and microfinance institutions excluding affiliated networks of caisses; a reported sample covered 59 institutions, 809 service points, 4,733,441 members or clients and credit outstanding of approximately 373,496.2 million FCFA, with portfolio deterioration of 7.9%. These figures describe the supply of credit, not an entitlement to obtain a loan. Lenders usually examine KYC information, income, cash flow, existing obligations, repayment capacity and credit history. A savings and credit institution may also require membership, prior savings, a group or solidarity guarantee, or pledged security. A mobile-money account does not itself provide credit. A digital offer becomes credit only when a lender, repayment amount, due date and related conditions are clearly stated. Check the total repayment, automatic debit, data permissions and due date before accepting it, and never disclose a PIN or one-time password. A formal credit contract should state the repayment schedule, total effective rate (TEG), nominal interest, fees, insurance, penalties and guarantees. Borrowers give written consent before credit data is shared with a credit information bureau (BIC), and they can request access to or correction of their credit report through the BIC or lender. Banks, Commission Bancaire-supervised savings and credit institutions, and electronic money institutions must provide a complaint mechanism and generally respond within one month. An unresolved complaint can be taken to the applicable Commission Bancaire channel. The UMOA usury ceilings effective from 1 June 2026 are 14% per year for banks and 24% per year for financial-credit institutions, microfinance institutions and other economic agents. These ceilings do not predict the total cost of a particular loan, because fees, insurance, penalties, collateral and guarantee costs also matter. Togo's Council of Ministers adopted a draft national microfinance law on 19 February 2026, but a draft is not enacted law until official promulgation; the legal status of a provider should therefore be checked before relying on a new rule. When a repayment deadline, or échéance, is missed, contact the lender immediately and request a written rescheduling or restructuring proposal. The document should confirm the new principal, effective rate, fees, penalties, maturity, collateral and any continuing exposure of a guarantor or co-obligor. An oral promise or a partial payment without written allocation can leave the original arrears unresolved. Taking a new loan to repay an old one is sensible only after comparing the total cost and repayment risk. Collection normally starts with the provider and may proceed through a complaint, mediation or conciliation at a Maison de justice, legal information, a lawyer or a court. Togo had 16 operational Maisons de justice in 2024, which recorded 5,518 referrals and recovered 112,421,098 FCFA in claims; the official account describes the service as rapid and free, with mediation success above 90%. These services are not an evidenced nationwide specialist debt-counselling network. Threats, violence and public shaming are not lawful substitutes for formal recovery procedures. Under the OHADA Uniform Act on Simplified Recovery Procedures and Enforcement Measures (AUVE), effective in Togo from 16 February 2024, an enforceable title can support procedures such as an order to pay, seizure of a bank claim, seizure and sale of assets, or seizure of real estate through the competent authorized authority. The OHADA Uniform Act on Insolvency Proceedings (AUPC), effective from 24 December 2015, covers merchants, entreprenants, private legal entities and qualifying public enterprises through mechanisms including conciliation, preventive settlement, judicial reorganisation and liquidation. No general procedure for household or consumer debt settlement has been evidenced. Informal credit through tontines, family members, traders or suppliers may use different prices, guarantees and proof requirements, so record the amount, contribution, due date, interest, penalties, security and witnesses in writing.