Mount Agou is part of an extreme western outlier of the Atakora Mountains that cross neighbouring Benin.

[4][5][6] Although geologically part of these structures, Mount Agou presents itself as an inselberg, rising abruptly above the relatively flat Danyi Plateau with a drop of around 700 metres (2,300 ft).

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, Adangme refugees settled at Mount Agou, fleeing from slave traders.

[13] A mythical narration tells that when the Germans arrived in nearby Naviè village, they made an agreement to buy what can fit into a sheepskin.

In 1955, the cacao swollen shoot virus entered Togo from Ghana through the cocoa fields around Mount Agou.

Occasionally, a full marathon is organised under auspices of the Togo Leading Athletics Association that includes a climb to the top of Mount Agou.

[15] The mountain and the surrounding areas were densely covered with rainforest in the past, with strong biological connections from Mount Agou to the rest of the Atakora chain.

Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, strong deforestation has taken place for logging and agriculture, associated with considerable biodiversity loss, leaving only patches of original forest on isolated spots along the mountain slopes.