Little suspense in Togo where the outgoing president, Faure Gnassingbé, should be re-elected. Evidence of a well-established state apparatus, more than a real popular craze, "Faure", as it is nicknamed in the country, gathered crowds for its meetings, especially in the North, and even in the most contested bastions, such as in Sokodé, a large city located in the north-central part of the country.

Opposite the President of Togo, the opposition presents itself in dispersed ranks with six candidates. Among them, the unlucky Jean-Pierre Fabre, historic leader of the National Alliance for Change (ANC). In the last two presidential elections, in 2010 and 2015, the historic opponent always claimed victory but never managed to take the place of the president.

>> See: "Togolese presidential: start of the campaign, the Togo Debout collective denounces a 'masquerade'"

Her fate shouldn't be happier this year. The former opposition leader has lost the support of certain allies, such as the former Archbishop of Lomé, who prefer to support the former Prime Minister and President of the National Assembly Agbéyomé Kodjo.

For his part, Faure Gnassingbé boasts a good economic record after having launched a vast electrification project and the repair of 4,000 km of tracks to open up rural areas. However, the majority of the population still lives in extreme poverty. And its promise to create "more than 500,000 jobs" seems difficult to fulfill, due to the lack of industrial fabric.

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