Thomas Yayi Boni

Yayi Boni has been the President of Benin since 6 April 2006.

Running as an independent candidate supported by a coalition of both, political movements and small parties, his landslide victory shows the extent to which the ''system Kérékou'' under the rule of his predecessor had become unpopular.

During his campaign, he pledged to enhance governance, the development of the private sector, the education of women and the renovation of the agricultural system.

Yayi Boni holds a PhD in Economics and is a graduate of the University of Paris IX Dauphine. From 1991 to 1996, under Nicephore Soglo''s presidency, he has been technical adviser for monetary and banking affairs.

In 1994, he was elected president of the West African Development Bank (BOAD) from which he resigned in 2005 in order to run for the presidency.

During his tenure at the BOAD, he supervised the in-depth reorganisation of directions and services of the Bank so as to enhance their efficiency in the fight against poverty. Thanks to the arrival of new stakeholders, the capital of the Bank increased from 140 billion francs CFA (1994) to 700 billion (2005) francs CFA.

Moreover, to his credit, Yayi Boni managed to negotiate a deal with other financial partners such as the World Bank, the French Development Agency or the Canadian International Development Agency to finance a 200-billion project aimed at strengthening the regional financial market.

Born in 1952 in Tchaourou, in the north of the country, Mr. Yayi Boni is married and father of five children.

Ref. http://ec.europa.eu