Togo is finally getting a skatepark!

Skateboording is finally getting the recognition it deserves in Togo, Lome after 6 years of the country not fully recognizing skateboarding as a sport that should be developed and supported.

The history of skateboarding in Togo is as old as the history of the importation and exportation. In the sense that if you were to ask a Togolese skateboarder where he got his skateboard, since skate shops are non existent in the country and importing to Africa comes with it’s own headaches, if it wasn’t donated by an NGO, then they bought it off the hands of a deckworker at the Lomé Habour who found the skateboard while clearing out a shipping container. It is this culture of finding one or two skateboards in shipping containers by deckworkers that led to the growth of skate culture and skateboarding in Togo.

Après 6 ans de persévérance, le premier skate park voit enfin le jour au Togo ! Comme terrain de jeu, nous avons connu l’asphalte de la rue et avons été rejetés à certains endroits, mais cela n’a jamais ralenti notre passion. Aujourd’hui nous célébrons le fruit de nos efforts, un lieu qui va au-delà du béton et des rampes, c’est le symbole de la détermination et de la communauté. Bienvenue dans le nouveau chapitre, où nos skateboards retracent notre histoire.
One Nation Skatepark

Even though preparations are currently ongoing to build the first skatepark in Togo, it is still not 100% certain that the country fully supports and recognize boardsports, but as the 2024 Olympics, as well as other forthcoming Olympics, approaches, and as most African countries prepare other sectors of the sports industry like boxing, basketball, track and field, the ministers are also starting to see why it might be important to support the growth of skateboarding in their own countries.