Lomé Hosts the ECOWAS Investment Forum — West Africa's Premier Investor Gathering
The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) brings decision-makers, investors, and international partners to Lomé on September 29 for the EIF 2027 — a platform that has established Togo as West Africa's investment crossroads.
Lomé is once again the address of choice for West African investment diplomacy. On September 29, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) hosts the ECOWAS Investment Forum (EIF 2027) at its headquarters in the Togolese capital — bringing together decision-makers, institutional investors, development finance institutions, and international partners under one roof to identify and accelerate investment across the 15 ECOWAS member states.
The choice of Lomé is not accidental. Since hosting the inaugural EIF 2024, Togo has cemented its position as the institutional home of West African regional finance. EBID's own headquarters is in Lomé, and the country's improving macroeconomic fundamentals — 6.3% growth, inflation at 0.5%, and a deficit falling to 3.5% of GDP — make it a credible showcase for the region's potential.
A Bank on the Rise
EBID arrives at EIF 2027 with considerable momentum. In August 2026, Moody's Ratings upgraded the bank's long-term issuer rating from B2 to B1 with a stable outlook — a significant endorsement of the institution's financial trajectory. In the same period, EBID's Board approved strategic operations totalling more than EUR 269.55 million and USD 200 million, representing over USD 510 million in total commitments across West Africa.
Recent deals include a CFAF 10 billion financing agreement with the Banque de l'Habitat de Côte d'Ivoire to support housing finance, and an €80 million agreement with Coris Holding to strengthen financing for the productive sector across West Africa. Togo, as EBID's host country, is both a beneficiary and a showcase of this deployment.
What to Watch at EIF 2027
The forum will focus on sectors where West Africa's investment gap is most acute: infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, digital economy, and SME financing. For Togo specifically, the Adétikopé Industrial Platform, the Port of Lomé's expansion, and the country's renewable energy programme are among the investment narratives likely to feature prominently in bilateral discussions.
For investors watching the region, the EIF is more than a conference — it is a deal-making environment where the informal conversations between a ministry official and a fund manager can turn into a signed agreement within weeks. Lomé's role as host gives Togolese institutions a structural first-mover advantage in these conversations.
Togo's Strategic Dividend
Hosting the EIF for the second time reinforces Togo's positioning as the neutral, stable, and accessible capital of West African institutional finance. In a region where geopolitical fault lines have deepened — with the AES bloc outside ECOWAS, and traditional partners recalibrating their engagement — Lomé's ability to convene everyone at the same table is a strategic asset with direct economic value.
The dividend is already visible: EBID's presence in Lomé, Togo's improving sovereign ratings trajectory, and the steady flow of regional financial institutions choosing the city for their meetings and signings all point to a country that is successfully converting diplomatic neutrality into investment gravity.