Togo is currently at the crossroads regarding President Gnassingbé Eyadéma's announcement that he will step down as president at the next presidential elections in 2003.

Currently, the political situation is dominated by co-optation, intimidation and elimination of major players of the opposition. President Eyadéma comes from a minority ethnic group called the Kabré in the north, while his foremost opposition comes from the southern-based Ewé ethnic group.

Togo's population comprises 37 different ethnic groups, but is primarily characterised by a north-south divide. The southern population is dominated by the Ewé, making up some 45% of the total Togolese population. Other ethnic groups in the south include the Mina (migrated from Ghana in the seventeenth century), the Ana (originating from Yoruba migration from south-west Nigeria into Togo from the thirteenth century onwards), the Akposso (cocoa and coffee growing people's of the Plateau region west of Atakpamé), and the Bassar (in the centre of the country). The north is populated by various ethnic groups, foremost of which are the Kotokoli and the Kabré, making up around 30% of the total population. Most of them are poor peasants inhabiting the Sokode, Baffilo and Kara region. The north is also home to the Lamba, the Losso and the Tchokossi (Muslim migrants from Cote d'Ivoire during the 18th century). The Ewé, the Mina and the Ana are considered the commercial, political and intellectual elite because, with their proximity to the coast, they profited from early contact with European merchants, and subsequently enjoyed commercial and educational advantages over the people of northern Togo with the advent of the colonial period. They were then recruited to fill skilled administrative positions required for the effective management of the colonial state.

Among the peoples of the northern part of Togo, several ethnic groups migrated from Burkina Faso during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As they moved south they intermingled with the local population. In spite of Eyadéma's proactive development policy many in the north still make their living from small-scale farming. Some Hausa speaking Fulanis (as well as Hausas) also live among the people of northern Togo.