Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé

Victoire Tomégah-Dogbé (born December 23, 1959, Lomé, Togo) is a Togolese politician who was prime minister of Togo (2020–25), the first woman to serve in that position. Prior to her ascension to that post, she held various positions in government and with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Early life, education, and work

Tomégah-Dogbé was raised in Badougbé, a Togolese city near the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. She earned a master’s in economics and management (1982) from the University of Benin (now the University of Lomé) and also has a diploma in management and finance (1988) from the Jutland Technology Institute Aarhus, in Denmark, and a diploma in orchestrating winning performance (1996) from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In 1986 Tomégah-Dogbé began working for Industrie Togolaise des Plastiques (ITP), where she held various positions over the next several years. She left in 1992 to work for Shell Group in Togo but returned to ITP in 1994, serving as CEO for four years.

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Tomégah-Dogbé began working with the UNDP in 1999. There Tomégah-Dogbé spent close to a decade working in various capacities in several African countries. During this time she earned a master’s in governance and development through the UNDP Virtual Development Academy (New York), in partnership with Jones International University.

Political career

Tomégah-Dogbé is a member of the ruling Union for the Republic (Union pour la République; UNIR) political party. She has held positions in Togo’s government since 2008, when she first joined the newly created ministry of grassroots development in the administration of Pres. Faure Gnassingbé. In May 2009 Gnassingbé chose Tomégah-Dogbé to be his chief of staff, making her the first woman to hold that role in Togo’s government. The next year she was appointed minister of grassroots development, handicrafts, youth, and youth employment. She retained her ministry through the governments of Prime Ministers Gilbert Houngbo (2008–12), Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu (2012–15), and Komi Sélom Klassou (2015–20).

In February 2020 Gnassingbé was elected to a fourth term as Togo’s president. After a delay of several months because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Klassou resigned on September 25 so that Gnassingbé could form a new government. Gnassingbé appointed Tomégah-Dogbé as prime minister on September 28, making her the first woman to serve in that position. She unveiled her cabinet in October; the 33-member cabinet was noteworthy for the inclusion of 11 women in ministerial positions.

In April 2024 Togo’s National Assembly approved a new constitution that, pending presidential assent, would change the country’s form of government from a presidential to parliamentary system. The new constitution made the post of president a largely ceremonial role and eliminated citizens’ ability to vote directly in presidential elections. It did not include provisions for the post of prime minister but did establish a new similar position of president of the council that was not subject to term limits and would be filled by the leader of the party holding the majority of seats in the National Assembly. These changes were largely understood as a way for Gnassingbé, who had served as president for nearly two decades, to skirt term limits and continue to hold power, albeit with a different title. In legislative elections held later that month, the UNIR won the vast majority of seats, and Gnassingbé signed the new constitution into law on May 6.

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Later in May Tomégah-Dogbé submitted the resignation of her government, as was customary after elections. Though Gnassingbé accepted the resignation, he asked her to continue until a new government was established. In August 2024 he again appointed Tomégah-Dogbé as prime minister. This time she would lead the interim government provided for by the new constitution until the country’s transition to the parliamentary system was complete. One more step toward that goal was accomplished in February 2025, when elections were held for the newly established Senate. Gnassingbé and Tomégah-Dogbé’s UNIR ruling party won the majority of seats; opposition party members had largely boycotted the election in protest of the new constitution and Gnassingbé’s continued governance.

On May 2, 2025, as the full implementation of the new constitution was near completion, Tomégah-Dogbé offered her resignation as prime minister. The next day Gnassingbé was sworn in as the country’s first president of the council.