Profile: Togo's president-elect Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe

Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, candidate of current president and presidential candidate of the ruling party, the Union for the Republic (UNIR), was officially declared president-elect on Monday.

Following is the profile of the president-elect:

Born on June 6, 1966 in Togo, Gnassingbe received his university education at the Sorbonne, Paris, from which he graduated in management, economics and international relations.

He proceeded to the United States and obtained an MBA from George Washington University.

In June 2002, Gnassingbe won parliamentary elections on the platform of the Togo Peoples Rally (RPT) in Blitta constituency in central Togo.

From 2003 to 2005, he was appointed by his father, President Gnassingbe Eyadema, to serve as minister of equipment, mines, posts and telecommunications.

Gnassingbe came to power in April 2005, following a special election after the death of his father General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled Togo for 38 years.

He was re-elected in March 2010 with 60.89 percent of the vote.

In 2012, he dissolved the RPT and established a new ruling party, the Union pour la Republique (UNIR).

In February 2015, he announced that he would be seeking a third term in the 2015 election.

Five candidates were registered for the presidential race, including Jean-Pierre Fabre, a main challenger of Gnassingbe. Endi