Gilbert Houngbo


Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo is a Togolese politician who was Prime Minister of Togo from September 2008 to July 2012. Previously he worked at the United Nations Development Programme.
After leaving office as Prime Minister, Houngbo became Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnership at the International Labour Office in 2013. He has been President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development since 2017.

Education and professional career

Houngbo was born in rural Togo, the 11th of 18 children. He holds an advanced degree in business management from the University of Lomé in Togo. He came to Canada in 1983 on a graduate scholarship and earned a degree in accounting and finance from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Houngbo stated in a 2017 interview that this period deeply affected him and gave him a "sense of place in the world". He gained Canadian citizenship and worked at Price Waterhouse Canada. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

UN career

Houngbo was a member of the United Nations Development Programme Strategic Management Team and was its Director of Finance and Administration before being appointed as the UNDP Chief of Staff in 2003. He was subsequently appointed as United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator of the UNDP, and Director of the UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 29 December 2005.

Prime minister

On 7 September 2008, President Faure Gnassingbé appointed Houngbo as Prime Minister of Togo; he replaced Komlan Mally, who had resigned two days earlier. His appointment as prime minister was read out in a decree by Kouessan Yovodevi, the Director of National Television. Houngbo took office on 8 September. Houngbo was a relatively obscure figure in Togo prior to his appointment, which was regarded as surprising. The government said that he was a "man of consensus" who would facilitate national reconciliation. Some observers attributed his appointment to a desire to improve the image of the government; there were suggestions that Mally had appeared ineffectual.
Houngbo travelled to the UN Headquarters in New York on 11 September for a visit to mark his departure from the UN. He met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 11 September, and Ban congratulated him on his achievements at the UNDP. In Togo, Houngbo's government was named on 15 September 2008. It included 27 ministers, aside from Houngbo himself: 3 ministers of state, 20 ministers, 2 minister-delegates, and 2 secretaries of state. Houngbo presented his general policy programme to the National Assembly on 16 September. Of the 80 deputies who participated in the vote on Houngbo's programme, 50 voted in favor of it; the opposition Union of Forces for Change voted against it, while the opposition Action Committee for Renewal abstained.
Gnassingbé was re-elected in the March 2010 presidential election and sworn in on 3 May 2010. Houngbo accordingly resigned as Prime Minister on 5 May, and Gnassingbé re-appointed him as Prime Minister on 7 May. His new coalition government was announced on 28 May, which included seven members from the UFC, Togo's main opposition party.
Houngbo resigned on 11 July 2012, and was succeeded in office by Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu on 23 July.

Return to UN service

Houngbo was appointed as Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnership at the International Labour Office in February 2013, taking office on 1 March.
On 14 February 2017, Houngbo was appointed as President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development ; he took office on 1 April 2017.
In 2020, Houngbo was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to serve on the Advisory Committee for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, chaired by Inger Andersen.

Personal life

Houngbo is married and has three children. The two eldest children live in Canada.