Togo Free Zone (Zone Franche): 0% tax for exporters
The Togo Free Zone is the one place in the country where "0% corporate tax" is literally true, on paper, by statute. It is also the most misunderstood incentive in the jurisdiction. Search results promise tax-free companies; the fine print is an export commitment that most businesses cannot meet.
This guide explains what the Zone Franche actually grants, the tax and customs schedule as commonly cited, and the eligibility condition that decides whether the regime is for you. We are a registered agent in Lomé; our interest is in telling you straight whether you qualify, because a rejected free-zone application costs everyone time.
What the Zone Franche is
Togo established a free-zone regime to attract export-oriented industry: manufacturing, assembly, and processing that bring inputs in, add value in Togo, and ship finished goods out. In exchange for that activity and the jobs it creates, the state grants a long window of corporate tax relief plus exemption from customs duties on imported inputs and equipment. It was one of the first free-zone regimes in West Africa and remains a central plank of Togo's industrial strategy, anchored by the Port of Lomé and the Adétikopé industrial platform (PIA).
The essential point to hold onto: this is an industrial export incentive, not a general low-tax company. It rewards a factory that exports, not a consultancy, a holding company, or a trader selling into the Togolese and regional market.
The tax and customs schedule
Free-zone benefits are set by statute and applied case by case, so treat the figures below as the commonly cited terms and confirm the current schedule when you apply. As typically described, a qualifying free-zone company receives:
| Period | Corporate income tax (Zone Franche) | Standard rate outside the zone |
|---|---|---|
| Years 1–5 | 0% | 27% |
| Years 5–10 | ~5% | 27% |
| Years 10–20 | ~15% | 27% |
| After year 20 | ~20% | 27% |
Alongside the income-tax schedule, the regime commonly includes:
- Customs relief: exemption from duties and taxes on imported machinery, equipment, spare parts, raw materials and consumables used for the installation and operation of the business, and on the export of goods manufactured in the zone.
- VAT exemption: a multi-year exemption (commonly cited at around ten years) on goods and services required to set up and run the operation.
- Other levies: relief or reductions on certain local taxes and registration duties, per the statute in force.
The headline is a genuine 0% corporate rate for roughly the first five years and a preferential rate for a decade or more after that, against a standard 27% outside the zone. For a capital-intensive exporter, the customs and VAT relief on imported plant can matter as much as the income-tax line.
The catch: the export requirement
The reason most readers will not qualify is a single condition. Free-zone status is granted to companies that export the large majority of their output — the figure is commonly cited at around 70% or more of production. Sales into the Togolese domestic market are permitted only up to a limited share, and often carry duties as if imported. The regime exists to earn foreign exchange and build export industry, not to shelter companies serving local demand.
Two further conditions travel with it: you must establish a new Togolese legal entity to hold the free-zone status, and you must create local employment, with hiring commitments that scale with the operation. Free-zone status is a licence tied to a business plan, reviewed and monitored, not a tax box you tick at registration.
Who it fits
The Zone Franche is the right instrument when your business looks like this:
- A manufacturer, processor or assembler — textiles and apparel, agro-processing, light assembly, solar and electronics, packaging — that will physically transform goods in Togo.
- An operation that will export most of its output, to the region or beyond, using Lomé's port and corridor access to Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
- A venture with a real capital and hiring plan, for which a 0% corporate window of several years and duty-free imported plant materially change the numbers.
If that describes you, the incentive is one of the more competitive industrial packages in West Africa. If it does not, read our guide on registering an ordinary Togolese company and our honest account of what Togo's tax system does and does not do.
A note on the administering body
Togo restructured the governance of its free-zone regime recently: the historic operator, SAZOF, was dissolved and free-zone administration was reorganised under the state's investment-promotion machinery during 2024–2025. Because the institutional arrangements are in transition, confirm the current administering agency and the exact terms in force at the point of application rather than relying on older references. The underlying incentive has continued; the office that grants and monitors it is what changed.
How Volta helps
Our role here is narrow and useful: an honest eligibility assessment first, then the application. We review your business plan against the export, entity and employment conditions and tell you plainly whether free-zone status is realistic. If it is, we form the new Togolese entity and prepare and lodge the free-zone application with the current administering agency, then set up the ongoing compliance the status requires. If it is not, we say so and point you to the ordinary route. Our fees are published here.
Exporting from Togo?
Tell us what you will make and where it will sell. We will assess your free-zone eligibility honestly and, if it fits, handle the entity and the application.
General information as at July 2026, not legal or tax advice. Free-zone benefits are set by statute and administered case by case; the rates and conditions described are commonly cited terms and should be confirmed, together with the current administering agency, at the point of application. Figures are indicative and change; we correct this page when they do.