Lomé
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This article is a rough translation from French. It may have been generated by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. Please help to enhance the translation. The original article is under "French" in the "languages" sidebar. |
| Lomé | |||
| — City — | |||
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  Lomé
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| Coordinates: 6°8′16″N 1°12′45″E / 6.13778°N 1.2125°ECoordinates: 6°8′16″N 1°12′45″E / 6.13778°N 1.2125°E | |||
| Country |  Togo |
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| Region | Maritime Region | ||
| Prefecture | Greater Lomé | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Aouissi Lodé | ||
| Population | |||
| - Total | 737,751 | ||
| Time zone | UTC + 0 (UTC) | ||
Lome,with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial centre and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels. It also has an oil refinery.
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[edit] History
The city was founded in the eighteenth century by the Ewe people and became the capital of the German colony known as Togoland in 1897. The name derives from a fighter who gave his name to the city.
In 1882, the village, known then as Bey Beach, became a major trading centre with the arrival of Chico and Octaviano Olympio as agents for the British trading firm A. and F. Swanzy. In the late nineteenth century, the British customs taxes weighed heavily on imported goods such as alcohol and tobacco, so in order to escape British taxes Lomé was born. The previously sparsely populated coastline quickly began to populate. Bey Beach became the capital of Togo when the German rulers transferred capital status from Aneho in 1897. The city then grew quickly until it was taken by the French Army in 1914 during World War I. By this time the city had reached a population of 8,000 people.
Many people were thus attracted by the new economic hub that was Lomé. The rapid growth of the city strengthened quickly and Lomé had the reputation of a place where good business could be done..
[edit] Colonial period
Togo was under threat by the British in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) that led the call for the protection of Germany, and thus the birth of Togo as an international law on 5 July 1884 by the Treaty of Baguida signed by Gustav Nachtigal, renewed the following day in Lome.
Lomé freely continued to prosper as a center of imports, thus becoming the main focus of the North, whose major axis of penetration was the valley of the Volta (that is to access that began building the first true road the country-Kpalimé Lomé, from 1892). This major economic role that brought the German administration to transfer the capital of the Territory, on 6 March 1897, in a city that already had more than 2 000.
Above all, Lomé benefited in 1904 from a port that was the only point of contact Maritime Togo, without ruining its rival Aného, far more important. From the dock, a railways network was inaugurated to Aného in 1905 to Kpalimé in 1907, and Atakpamé in 1909.
But if the infrastructure put in place by the Germans (a post office from 1890, the phone from 1894, a bank in 1906, the intercontinental telegraph in 1913 ...) could benefit all, a system of patents and licenses discriminatory évinça gradually African traders of the most lucrative, ie import-export.
Apart from the rich Octaviano Olympio, with its vast coconut (the first of the city, its herds, its brick and its construction company) most traders had to togolais one after the other to serve the firms Foreign responsible for their agencies in other cities, or enjoying more autonomy as buyers of agricultural products for export in the interior.
The smaller had been hired in large numbers as committed factories (headquarters office of a trading company abroad) principal.
Firms other African territories watched with envy Togo who had a skilled labor abundant, elsewhere should entrust all posts by expatriates, much more expensive for the employer.
The war of 1914 saved the city completely, but it led, in 1916, the eviction of German companies, replaced by British firms and (tentatively) in France. Many traders returned Togo in Lome.
The business flourished, their vast coconut plantations, their land and made a middle class with which the new colonial authorities had counted, it was the sense of the council of notables founded in 1922 (elected in 1925), which gave a life Lomé political remarkably early in Francophone Africa.
It is also quite an exceptional African capital has been so marked by its indigenous bourgeoisie (from the country), both in production practices of urban space, so original in Lome, in the singularities its popular architecture.
The French renewed infrastructure left by the Germans (rehabilitation of railways, more roads, construction of a new wharf ...). They added electrification (1926) and drinking water (1940), that their predecessors could not achieve.
In the 1920s, a policy of low taxation systematic permit long prosperity. Lomé reached 15,000 people in 1930. But the global economic crisis of the early 1930s led to a brutal recession. Many commercial firms closed or had to regroup.
Investments stood in the image of the railway North Blitta finally stopped in 1934.
A draft of high tax increase (although the resources of each fall) caused popular riots of January 1933, which were undoubtedly a major political break in the history of Togo. Only after the Second World War, after a decade of economic stagnation, did Lome begin to prosper.
[edit] Independence and modern times
The city's population grew rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century. Indeed, if the city were only 30, 000 inhabitants in 1950, then you could already count 80 000 inhabitants in 1960, (Independence of Togo) and 200 000 in 1970.
That is to say that in just 20 years, the population of Lomé was increased by 170,000.
In Lomé as throughout the country, very high prices dopèrent export markets, investments of the colonial administration (the plans "FIDES" created many roads, bridges, schools, hospitals ...) ensure full employment. The buildings quickly spread at the expense of old coconut, and hope animates, each take-off imminent.
From the year 1975, investments were increasingly huge, but not always in areas targeted, and Togo (small country open to all winds, the hub of trade between its powerful neighbors) had no market so they should have been protected from the major industries that were built, or the potential for tourism stable luxury hotels that sprang . At the same time, it was a tradgedy, leaving the railways to deteriorate, as they had an important role also, particularly in serving the suburbs of the city.
But the economic activity of an African city is not just an accumulation of large companies, banks and factories. There is also a vast field of economy, the countless activities of production, trade, service, repair, which are in fact the livelihood of the majority of the population, and the only way for her access to services to the extent of its modest resources.
Difficult to capture in statistical tools of economists, the "informal sector" is increasingly true economic life of African citizens.
Moreover, we can see the development of market gardening around the city, spurred by growing unemployment, rural migration and the demand for vegetables. Market gardening, first extended to the north, is mainly on the beach (the sand is very salty), and planting hedges provides protection.
The various studies of the land market of the city shows that the areas are quite heterogeneous, combining opulent villas and modest housing, without social and spatial division of the city. This is because the Loméens are very attached to their patch of land and what they call their "home" (at home). This has led to a freeze land. But even though the city is not a socially divided city, the fact remains that Lomé is experiencing increasing problems related to garbage collection, and the fight against unhealthy urban living conditions has become a priority of the city and its inhabitants.
Lome is an African city that is changing at a breakneck speed, to the rhythms of night life, the hustle and bustle of the general market, cyber cafes, motorcycles / taxis (zemidjans) and cargo the in free zone of the port of Lomé. Lome is a city, irretrievably African, alternately mixing tradition with Animism juxtoposed against the modern landscape of ever-increasing luxury hotels and bank buildings.
[edit] Geography
On its inception, Lomé was trapped between the lagoon in the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, the village of Bè in the east and the border of Aflao, Ghana in the West. Today the city has seen a massive growth with the oil refinery in the East.
Neighborhoods in Lomé include Ablogamé, Adawlato, Amoutivé, Bé, Dékon, Forever, Kodjoviakopé, Noukafou, Nyékonakpoé, Tokoin and Xédranawoe.
Neighbourhoods in the north of the city are almost separated from the centre by a lagoon. The lagoon itself covers 30 km².
Lomé is recognized by the Togolese government as a Municipal Greater Urban Area. Cities and towns in the Greater Lomé Metropolitan Area include: Aflao (Ghana), Agbalépédogan, Akodésséwa, Anfamé, Baguida, Kanyikopé, Kélékougan, Lomé II, Totsigan, Adidogome, Kegue and Totsivi. Services of the Municipality of Lomé far beyond the boundaries of the Gulf and the town north and east of the city.
Distance of Lomé from other Togolese cities
- Lomé/Tsévié 35 km
- Lomé/Aného 45 km
- Lomé/Tabligbo 90 km
- Lomé/Notsé 100 km
- Lomé/Kpalimé 121 km
- Lomé/Atakpamé 167 km
- Lomé/Blitta 273 km
- Lomé/Sokodé 355 km
- Lomé/Bafilo 404 km
- Lomé/Bassar 412 km
- Lomé/Kara 413 km
- Lomé/Kandé 503 km
- Lomé/Mango 592 km
- Lomé/Dapaong 662 km
[edit] Climate
As in most equatorial climates, the city has two rainy seasons, the first starts in April and ends in July, then a second rainy season starts lower in early September and ends in late November.
The heat is constant, the average maximum temperature in the shade is on average 30 °C in the afternoon, and the average minimum temperature is 23 °C in the morning. Earlier this year, a dry wind from the Sahara brought down the temeprature to as low as 19 °C in the morning.
The climate of Lomé is also greatly influenced by the ocean. The heat is stable, without excessive peaks, and the wind coming from the sea, makes it quite pleasant.
The city has a distinctively low rainfall for this latitude, in fact, Lomé enjoys a micro climate that allows her to reach a low rainfall for the region (800 mm per year). By comparison, Paris receives an average of 650 mm per year.
[edit] Politics
[edit] International agreements
A number of international agreements have been signed in Lomé.
[edit] Lomé Convention
The Lomé Convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Union (EU) and 71 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. It was first signed on February 28, 1975 in Lomé. The first Lomé Convention (Lomé I), which came into force in April 1976, was designed to provide a new framework of cooperation between the then European Community (EC) and developing ACP countries, in particular former British, Dutch, Belgian and French colonies. It had two main aspects. It provided for most ACP agricultural and mineral exports to enter the EC free of duty. Preferential access based on a quota system was agreed for products, such as sugar and beef, in competition with EC agriculture. Secondly, the EC committed to the ECU for 3 billion in aid and investment in the ACP countries.
The convention was renegotiated and renewed three times. Lomé II (January 1981 to February 1985) increased the aid and investment expenditure for the ECU to 5.5 billion. Lomé III came into force in March 1985 (trade provisions) and May 1986 (aid), and expired in 1990; it increased commitments to ECU by 8.5 billion. Lomé IV was signed in December 1989. Its trade provisions cover ten years, 1990 to 1999. Aid and investment commitments for the first five years amounted to 12 billion. In all, some 70 ACP countries are party to Lomé IV, compared with the 46 signatories of Lomé I.
[edit] Lomé Peace Accord
The Lomé Peace Accord was a peace agreement between the warring parties in the civil war in Sierra Leone. With the assistance of the international community, Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Revolutionary United Front leader Foday Sankoh signed the Peace Accord on July 7, 1999. However, the agreement did not last and the Sierra Leone Civil War continued for two more years.
[edit] Demographics
| Demographic evolution of Lomé | |
|---|---|
| 1892 | 1 500 inhabitants |
| 1896 | 2,000 inhabitants |
| 1900 | 3,000 inhabitants |
| 1904 | 4,000 inhabitants |
| 1907 | 6,000 inhabitants |
| 1911 | 8,000 inhabitants |
| 1930 | 15,000 inhabitants |
| 1938 | 18,000 inhabitants |
| 1950 | 33,000 inhabitants |
| 1955 | 43,000 inhabitants |
| 1960 | 85,000 inhabitants |
| 1970 | 186,000 inhabitants |
| 1981 | 375 499 inhabitants |
| 1990 | 450,000 inhabitants |
| 1997 | 573,000 inhabitants |
| 2006 | 737,751 inhabitants |
[edit] Economy
Located 200 km from Accra and 150 km from Cotonou, Lomé is an important port, including a free trade zone opened in 1968. It exports phosphates, coffee, cocoa, cotton and palm oil, much of the transit going to the neighbouring countries of Ghana, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The port also houses an oil refinery.
The University of Lomé is now known in West Africa. The country's main airport is situated outside the city. The tallest building in Lomé, and throughout the country, is the Hotel Corinthia (36 storeys or 102m), a 5-star hotel and very modern.
The city in general has great potential, because tourism is growing in the country. However, political instability that began to surface in the passing years and continues today has seriously affected the country's tourism sector. In 2003, the country received 57,539 visitors, an increase of 1% compared to 2002. 22% of tourists came from France, 10% of Burkina Faso and 9% were from Benin
[edit] Architecture
Notable landmarks in the city include Lomé Grand Market, the Togo National Museum in the Palais de Congrés, a fetish (voodoo) market, Lomé Cathedral, beaches and the former wharf.
The city of Lomé is a typical African city in the sense that many styles, influences, traditions are mixed. The landscape combines red earth, with grand boulevards and large squares, green gardens and colorful houses.
There are some remnants of colonial architecture from the turn of the century, such as arcades and galleries and the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart designed in the German Gothic style. There are also many modern buildings like the headquarters of the BCEAO, , the BTCI, the magnificent edifice of ECOWAS, Hotel de la Paix, the Hotel Mercure Sarakawa, Palm Beach Hotel and the famous 2 Fevrier Sofitel Hotel, rising to 102 meters.
Not far away is the Lomé Grand Market, with a large 3-storey hall. It sells everything from red peppers, green lemons, dried fish, combs, travel bags, and traditional medicinal remedies. On the first floor is the "Nana Benz", which is noted for its clothing. Nearer the center of the city, there is the Akodessewa market, which is much more specialized than the general market. There are fetishes, gongons, and gris-gris.
The coast is considerably less frantic than the market, with local fishermen quietly pushing their large boats out to sea. To the west of the city is a residential area, which faces the sea. It has characteristically long streets, punctuated by official government buildings including the Palace of Justice and the various embassies and consulates. Farther north, near the Monument of Independence, is the house of the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), a major convention center, within which lies the Togo National Museum. The museum contains collections, jewelry, musical instruments, dolls, pottery, weapons and many other objects showing the arts and traditions.
[edit] Education
The University of Lomé (previously called University of Benin) is located in Lomé Tokoin Campus.
[edit] Transportation
The city is served by the Lomé-Tokoin Airport. The tallest building in Lomé and in all of Togo is the 2 Fevrier Sofitel Hotel building. The former railway line to Blitta runs from the airport to the city.
[edit] Notable Residents
- King Mensah, popular Afropop musician, and philanthropist
- Emmanuel Adebayor, footballer for Togo and Arsenal
- Moustapha Salifou, footballer for Togo and Aston Villa
[edit] Sister Cities
[edit] External links
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