Adjo Agbaglo, Mayor of the commune of Zio 2 (Togo): Transmission as the key to the next generation
To mark International Women’s Day, celebrated every year on 8 March, Togo’s 12 women mayors were honoured by the NGO Cercle d’Aide Femme-enfant. These pioneers of decentralisation included Mrs Adjo Agbaglo, Mayor of the commune of Zio 2. Alongside her counterparts with whom they work within the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA), Togo chapter, they shared their experiences with nearly 200 young girls and women.
Mrs Adjo Agbaglo spoke to the girls about her career as both a woman entrepreneur and a woman mayor, her self-sacrifice to succeed at all costs, how she became mayor, the way she runs her commune and the methods she uses to ensure that everything runs smoothly. She urged young girls and women to believe in themselves, to dream, to dare, to act by getting involved in politics and to actively contribute to building a better future for all.
Advice that did not fall on dry land. ‘First of all, I was amazed by the careers of these women mayors and impressed by their experiences. I learned a lot from this exchange. I’ve learnt that before we can do anything, we need to be tenacious, persevering and have confidence in ourselves. Taking part in this session was very beneficial for me’, says Yawa Larissa Eklou, a first-year student at the University of Lomé.
The mayor, who holds the post of treasurer of the “Faîtière des Communes du Togo” (FCT), repeated this format of dialogue with the young girls of her commune of Zio 2 on 25 March 2025, at the initiative of the association “Nouvelles Alternatives pour le Développement Durable en Afrique” (New Alternatives for Sustainable Development in Africa). Around thirty young girls, both at school and in apprenticeships, discussed with the elected representative. ‘The key words of the session were perseverance and humility, because for the Mayor, women have no right to be discouraged in their quest to have their rights respected and to have the same opportunities. Humility must be a characteristic of women if they are to become outstanding leaders’, inform the commune’s page.
In March 2025, Mrs Agbaglo also represented the President of the FCT at the REFELA Togo General Assembly. In her speech, “she expressed her warmest greetings to the REFELA-Togo bureau which, since its creation on 08 March 2021 in Atakpamé, has striven to accomplish its mission despite the difficulties encountered. She stressed that building the edifice of decentralisation is a task that requires synergy of action from all components of society, with particular emphasis on women”.
Acknowledging that despite the many projects put in place by the State for the benefit of women in Togo, gender equality still has a long way to go, particularly within local authorities, Mrs Agbaglo invited women to work to facilitate REFELA-Togo’s actions in favour of young people and women entrepreneurs.
In Togo,they are 12 women on the 117 mayors who have been working for the development of their municipalities since 2019. In other words, only 10% are women. Achieving parity will undeniably require the transmission of knowledge and the sharing of experience between generations in order to encourage vocations and strengthen the capacities and skills of young girls and women in political leadership.