The treaty route and the consular one
A treaty slip is a shortcut agreed in advance between members, and it removes any further checking. Outside that agreement, the receiving country keeps the older habit of examining the file through its own officer. Togo follows the older habit, so the British stamp prepares the paper and the consular stamp decides its fate.
Togo and the Hague Convention
Togo has not joined the Hague Apostille Convention. A British paper bound for Lomé, Sokodé or Kara requires embassy legalisation on top of the British mark, whatever else the file already carries. The United Kingdom is a treaty party, which is why an apostille is issued here, though that has no effect beyond the treaty's membership.
Preparing the file in Sheffield
No part of the British stage happens over a counter, in Sheffield or elsewhere, because one office runs the service by post. The local task is producing source papers: the Register Office at the Town Hall for civil entries, a solicitor for a power of attorney or a certified company record, and an awarding body for anything academic.
An apostille from United Kingdom to Togo is often commercial, and commercial files move to contract dates. Order every certified copy at once, post the set together, and keep a spare at home. A single missing signature page can hold a shipping arrangement while the whole bundle waits for a second round.
French, the port, and what it means for the file
French is the language of Togolese administration, so an English bundle usually arrives with a French version bound in beside it. Have the words prepared once the stamps are on. A translation made in advance describes the plain document rather than the marked file that a clerk in Lomé eventually opens.
The port shapes the corridor. Lomé handles freight for landlocked neighbours, so agency agreements, incorporation papers and powers of attorney travel more than personal records do. Behind them come degrees and police records for logistics and construction posts. Family papers appear least often, and those are the ones worth reissuing as copies first.