Paramanga Ernest Yonli

Paramanga Ernest Yonli (born in 1956 in Tansarga, Tapoa province) also known as Ernest Paramanga Yonli, is a Burkinabé politician. He was Prime Minister from 6 November 2000 to 3 June 2007 and then President of the Economic and Social Council of Burkina Faso until March 2015.

He is a member of the Congress for Democracy and Progress party and a Grand Officer of the National Order of Burkina Faso.

Paramanga Ernest Yonli is a descendant of the last dynasty of the Gurma kingdom founded at the end of the 13th century by migrants from Kanem-Bornu, a region originally situated between modern Niger, Nigeria and Chad. This dynasty which is often confused with the history of the Gurma people, who live in Eastern Burkina Faso, can be subdivided into three lines, namely Yobri, Tambaga and Tansarga. Paramanga Ernest Yonli comes from one of the ruling families of the latter line of Tansarga.

Gurma society is organised around a power centre made up of a founding family, ministers of the court and the people. This power centre is governed by democratic principles whereby the Chief or the King is appointed following an aligned vote by all adult citizens. Paramanga Ernest Yonli’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father each ruled Tansarga in the canton of Gobnangou in turn. Today his older brother remains the chief of the village of Tansarga.

It was this democratic but hierarchical society, with an open outlook towards the wider world (Hausa, Djerma, Fula, Mossi…), which shaped Paramanga Ernest Yonli.

He obtained his mathematics and natural sciences baccalaureat with honours in 1976.

At university level, following a degree in general economics at the University of Ouagadougou, he came top of his class in his Masters in economic sciences at the University of Benin in Togo, then completed his training with a PhD at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. His thesis focused on "Farmer strategies in food security and cereal marketing: the role of cereal banks in the North Plateau-Central of Burkina Faso".

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