The Togolese Minister for the Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection, Edem Kokou Tengue, is certainly in pole position. He is the man who has succeeded in getting several major shipping companies to set up at the Adetikope dry port: the Swiss-Italian MSC, the Danish MAERSK, the French CMA CGM, the Singaporean PIL and the Japanese ONE all seem happy with the services offered by the Adétikopé Industrial Platform (PIA).
In charge of the ministerial department since 1 October 2020, this experienced economist in the maritime sector is convinced that the players in the sector are on the front line when it comes to preserving biodiversity. He advocates a green economy that would promote sustainable growth. His department has focused on aquaculture and introduced a sub-regional biological rest period.
A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, the University of Leicester and the University of Birmingham, he attended the Maersk Group training programme in Copenhagen from 2003 to 2005. He also holds an MBA from Imperial College London. He was sent to Gothenburg in Sweden the same year for two years as assistant to the group’s regional office finance director, covering all of Scandinavia and the Baltic States. He returned to Togo as finance manager for the group’s three companies, Maersk Togo S.A., Damco Togo S.A. and Lomé Terminal.
In the same year, he was sent to Göteborg in Sweden for two years as assistant to the financial director of the group’s regional office covering Scandinavia and the Baltic States1. He returned to Togo as finance director of the group’s three companies, Maersk Togo S.A., Damco Togo S.A. and Lomé Terminal service, set up by the Maersk group with the aim of privatising stevedoring activities at the port of Lomé. He became commercial director and then managing director of the Togolese branch of the Danish conglomerate Maersk. He became chairman of the Togolese association of shipping companies.
In 2017, he was selected as one of 20 young leaders by the French-African Foundation; he is included in the Choiseuil 2018 ranking of tomorrow’s economic leaders and, in 2022, he is on the list of the thirty most influential young economists in sub-Saharan Africa by the ICCE (Institute of Certified Chartered Economists). Edem Tengue is an Associate Member of the Chartered Management Accountants of the United Kingdom (CIMA), a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants of Australia (CPA Australia) and a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management of the United Kingdom.
In politics, he was elected to the Togolese National Assembly in the Haho constituency for the UNIR party in the 2018 legislative elections. However, he decided not to take his seat after three months. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Mono the same year. Since 1 October 2020, he has been Togo’s Minister for the Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection.