Paramanga Ernest Yonli, also known as Ernest Paramanga Yonli (born December 31, 1956[1]), is a Burkinabé politician and diplomat who was the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso from November 7, 2000[2] to June 11, 2007.[3] Since January 2008, Yonli has been the Ambassador of Burkina Faso to the United States.[4] He is a member of the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party.[1]
Yonli was born in Tansarga in Tapoa Province.[1][5] He attended secondary school in Ouagadougou, and from 1976 to 1979 he studied economics at the University of Ouagadougou. After graduating from that university, he attended the University of Benin in Lomé, Togo, obtaining a master's degree in economics, specializing in planning and development, in 1981. He then continued his studies in France, attending the Sorbonne; he obtained a diploma in international economy and development in 1984 and a doctorate in agricultural development in 1985. Subsequently he worked as a researcher on agricultural development and food security, based in Ouagadougou.[5] He obtained his PhD degree at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Groningen in February 1997 with a thesis entitled "Stratégies paysannes en matière de sécurité alimentaire et commercialisation céréalière - le rôle des banques de céréales dans le Nord du Plateau Central du Burkina Faso" ("Agricultural strategies in the field of food security and the commercialisation of cereal production – the role of cereal banks in the North of the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso").
He was Director of the Prime Minister's Office from February 1996[2][5] to September 1996, under Prime Minister Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo.[2] He then served as Minister of the Civil Service and Institutional Development[5][6] before being appointed as Prime Minister by President Blaise Compaoré on November 7, 2000, replacing Ouedraogo. His government, named on November 12, included 36 members, with seven opposition parties participating; three of these parties—the African Independence Party, the African Convention for Democracy, and the Panafrican Sankarist Convention—had already participated in Ouedraogo's government, while four were new to the government, including the Alliance for Democracy and Federation–African Democratic Rally (ADF-RDA).[2]
Yonli was elected to the National Assembly from Tapoa Province as a CDP candidate in the May 2007 parliamentary election.[1] Following the election, he submitted his government's resignation to Compaoré on June 3, 2007, and Tertius Zongo was appointed as his successor the next day.[7][8] Zongo succeeded Yonli on June 11.[3]
Yonli also resigned from the National Assembly, leaving his seat to a substitute, and he was expected to be appointed to a diplomatic post after leaving office as Prime Minister.[9] Several months later, he was appointed as Ambassador to the United States on December 5, 2007.[4] He presented his credentials to US President George W. Bush on January 22, 2008.[4][10]
Yonli is married to the daughter of Saye Zerbo.
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