Aného is a town with the soul of an old port. It sits between the ocean and a lagoon, close to the Benin border, and for a long time it was the main centre of the Togolese coast. It was a trading port, a slave-trade market, the first capital of the German colony and later a French administrative seat. Today that past survives in its slightly faded streets, its churches and its colonial houses with battered shutters facing the sea.
Once known as 'Petit Popo', Aného has a strong identity, tied to the Guin-Mina people, skilled traders of the coast, and to the 'Agudás', descendants of formerly enslaved people who came back from Brazil with Portuguese names, trades and a culture of their own. Every September the town and the surrounding area celebrate Epe Ekpe, the sacred stone ceremony that marks the traditional new year and one of the most important festivals in this part of the Gulf of Guinea.
This guide takes a practical look at Aného: its historic centre and colonial architecture, the traces of the slave trade and of 'Agudá' memory, the churches, the lagoon, the fishermen's beach and the melancholy feel of a former capital that the bustle has passed by. It makes an ideal stop to combine with Togoville and Lake Togo, or a last stop before crossing into Benin.
Aného, the former 'Petit Popo', was founded by Guin-Mina traders and grew as a trading port on the Gulf of Guinea coast, including in the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. It competed with other coastal towns for control of trade. When the Germans arrived in 1884 it was for a time the capital of the colony of Togoland, until power moved to Lomé in 1897. Under the French mandate it remained an administrative seat. What's left of those glory days is its weathered colonial buildings and a strong Guin-Mina and 'Agudá' identity. You'll find the full story on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The 56 km strip of beach that was the Slave Coast and the cradle of vodun: this is where Germany founded its colony, and where a lakeside village, Togoville, gave the country its name.
Read the history of Lomé and the coast (Maritime Region) →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
For centuries, Aného was one of the most important towns on the coast that is now Togo. Colonial maps and chronicles call it 'Petit Popo' ('Little Popo') to tell it apart from 'Grand Popo', on the other side of today's border with Benin. The town was founded and built up mainly by the Guin (or Mina) people, traders of Ewe and Akan origin who settled on this stretch of the Gulf of Guinea between the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sitting between the Atlantic Ocean and a lagoon, Aného became a natural port and a major trading hub. Goods linking the African interior with European ships passed through here, and the town thrived as a middleman on a coast contested by the Portuguese, Dutch, Danes, British and French.
That trade had a terrible side. Like much of the 'Slave Coast', Aného took part in the transatlantic slave trade between the 17th and 19th centuries. Thousands of enslaved people were shipped from these ports to the Americas, in one of the darkest chapters of the region's history. The memory of that tragedy is still present in the town and in nearby Agbodrafo, with its well-known 'House of Slaves'.
One of the most distinctive features of Aného, and of this whole coast, is the presence of the 'Agudás', also known as Afro-Brazilians or 'returnees'. They are descendants of enslaved Africans who had been taken to Brazil and came back to West Africa during the 19th century. Some returned as free people, others as traders or freed former slaves. They brought with them Portuguese surnames, trades, the Catholic religion, food and a culture of their own.
The Agudás settled in towns such as Aného, Grand-Popo, Ouidah and Lagos. There they formed a commercial and artisan elite, recognisable by their Luso-Brazilian names (de Souza, da Silva, do Rego, Olympio) and by their festivals and architecture. In Togo this community carried real weight: the family of Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of independent Togo, came from it.
This back-and-forth story across the Atlantic, from the slave trade that took some away to the return of their descendants, gives Aného a rich and complex cultural identity that blends Ewe-Mina, European colonial and Afro-Brazilian influences. It's one of the keys to understanding the town's particular atmosphere.
When Germany declared its protectorate over the coast in 1884, Aného was one of the best-established trading and power centres on the coast. It took on a leading role in running the new colony of Togoland and served as one of its capitals in the early years. Its port and its merchant elites made it a logical base for the colonial government.
That leading role didn't last long. In 1897 the Germans moved the capital to Lomé for good, drawn by its beach, which suited trade, and by its position on the border with the British colony. Aného was pushed into a secondary role, although it remained an administrative seat and an important town, first under the Germans and then, after the First World War, under the French mandate from 1922.
Power shifted to Lomé, and later Aného's port declined next to the capital's large modern port. All this left Aného 'frozen', in a way, in its heyday. That explains the melancholy air of its crumbling colonial buildings: they bear witness to a town that was once a capital and a major port, and that was left out of Lomé's breakneck growth.
Today Aného is a quiet town of around 25,000-30,000 people who make a living from fishing, cross-border trade and a modest economy. Its great heritage is intangible: the feel of a former capital, its historical memory and the strong identity of the Guin-Mina people, who keep their traditions, language and ceremonies alive.
The standout tradition is Epe Ekpe, the yearly festival of the 'taking of the sacred stone', which marks the Guin-Mina new year every September and is one of the great ceremonies of the Togolese coast. A priest draws out a ritual stone, and its colour foretells what the coming year will be like. The community celebrates with processions, songs and dances. It shows that, beneath the town's faded look, a very active traditional culture lives on.
Aného offers travellers something different from the bustle of Lomé. You'll find worn colonial streets facing the sea, historic churches, fishermen's pirogues, light reflecting off the lagoon and a memory that ties together the slave trade, the return of the Agudás and Togo's colonial history. Lying almost on the border with Benin, it is both the end of the Togolese coast and the gateway to Benin, the cradle of Vodun.
