Imagine you’re a Prime Minister and your president is a ruler that succeeded his dad and is a pariah in international politics? You’d probably try to round up support in countries that have a dime to spare, pretending that it is not so bad back home. That’s the reality for Togolese Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo, who is currently traveling around Europe.

Houngbo is meeting with fellow prime ministers, promoting a little stretch of land in West Africa called Togo. He says it is a good place for investment. But with budgets from donors being tightened and increasing political ties attached to foreign aid, Houngbo’s trip might be a waste of time.

The sun shines bright on the swords presented by the guards of honor as Gilbert Houngbo steps out of his limousine. “I heard that just a day ago, it was much colder and visibility was down due to fog”, Houngbo says with a big smile. “But I brought some sunshine from Togo, we have plenty of that!”

As he walks towards the red carpet, Houngbo is greeted by his Dutch colleague, Prime Minister Mark Rutte. They smile,wave and walk in to the little tower building, the traditional office of Dutch prime ministers in The Hague. But despite the beautiful weather, Houngbo’s thirty-minute meeting doesn’t go well.

Democracy
Togo and its six million inhabitants are in desperate need of financial aid after political unrest and violence wrecked the economy and ruined the middle class. The Togolese prime national resource, phosphate, is not in demand anymore on the world market. And although the soil is fertile, the country can’t feed itself.

Since 2005, things have changed in Togo and the ruling class is seriously trying to implement a legitimate form of democracy. But democracy alone is not enough. The Netherlands is not eager to partner up with countries like Togo that need to be developed from the bottom up. A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry confirmed that most likely Togo won’t be on ‘The List’, a selection of countries that the Netherlands supports intensively. Rwanda is there, and so is Kenya.

Gilbert Houngbo knows the ins and outs of international diplomacy. He was appointed as Assistant Secretary General under Kofi Anan, and served as the Africa director for the UN Development Program before joining the Togolese government. And Houngbo is not happy with the new Dutch approach to development aid. “It’s wrong to stick to the list and not consider other countries that progress accordingly” Houngbo says in an exclusive interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Trade
Later that day, at a special reception hosted by the Netherlands Africa Business Council (NABC), Houngbo meets a selection of Dutch business owners and CEOs that do business with Africa. There are specialised construction companies that are interested in fixing Togo’s deep water port and IT developers that want to sell applications to Togo’s telecom providers. Houngbo is pleased with the amount of businessmen who are present, but the prime minister insists that business interest and development aid go hand in hand. “We might not be a partner country, but I asked Rutte to find ways to boost the presence of the private sector in Togo.” Currently, almost six percent of the Togolese export is shipped to the Netherlands.

Kees van Heijst is the chairman of the NABC, and in his speech to the Togolese delegation he is very clear on the opportunities he sees in Togo. “There is a perfect opportunity to develop a profitable agricultural sector in Togo. They have fertile land, affordable labour and a market for local vegetables. They lack a little bit of knowledge, and that’s where we come in.”

Tank
But none of the attendees seems to be very keen on doing more complicated business. “They might boast about their roads and infrastructure, but you really need an army tank to drive comfortably on Route 1,” says a consultant who travelled there recently.

Prime Minister Houngbo really likes the ‘Dutch Direct’ manners at the reception, where people tell him what they really think. But as Houngbo gets ready for a meet and greet with the Togolese diaspora, he uses a napkin to wipe off the sweat on his face. Rallying support for his cause seems to be difficult job.