Yayi Boni - Biography

Biography

Boni was born in Tchaourou, in the Borgou Department in northern Benin, then the French colony of Dahomey. He was educated in the regional capital, Parakou, and later studied economics at the National University of Benin. He studied banking at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, and later economics and politics at the University of Orléans in France and at Paris Dauphine University, where he completed a doctorate in economics in 1976.

From 1980 to 1988 Boni worked for the Central Bank of the States of West Africa (BCEAO), becoming its Deputy Director, based in Dakar. In 1988 he became Deputy Director for Professional Development at the West African Centre for Banking Studies, also in Dakar. From 1992 to 1994 he worked in the office of the President of Benin, Nicéphore Soglo, in charge of monetary and banking policy. Finally in 1994 he was appointed President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD). For his work on West African development he was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre National de Mérite of the French Republic.

Boni stood as a candidate in the March 2006 presidential election. In the first round of voting, held on 5 March 2006, Boni polled 32 percent. His nearest challenger, Adrien Houngbédji of the Party for Democratic Renewal, polled 25 percent. Twenty-six candidates contested the election, which was reported to have been peaceful and fair. A runoff was held between Boni and Houngbédji on 19 March 2006; Boni won with almost 75 percent of the vote. He took office on 6 April 2006, succeeding Mathieu Kérékou.

Originally from a Muslim family, Boni is now an Evangelical Protestant. He has five children, and his wife Chantal (née de Souza), a native of the coastal city of Ouidah, is the niece of the former President Paul-Émile de Souza and the great granddaughter of Francisco Felix de Souza, also known as Chacha De souza, who was a brazilian slave trader and the Vice King of Ouidah. He was an Afro-Brazilian from Salvador, Bahia. He was the wealtier man in west Africa during his time.

Boni was reelected in 2011, taking 53.18 percent of the vote in the first round—enough to avoid a runoff election. He is the first president to win an election without a runoff since the restoration of democracy in 1991.