The UN deputy secretary general and director of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for Africa, Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo has been appointed Prime Minister of Togo, according to an official statement in the night of Sunday to Monday.
  
"Mr. Houngbo is Prime Minister," announced a decree read out by the director of national television Kouessan Yovodevi.
  
Before being appointed to his current top UN job, Houngbo was part of UNDP's strategic team and an administrative and financial director within the organisation.
  
Houngbo holds an advanced degree in business management from the University of Lome, Togo, and a degree in accounting and finance. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.
  
He succeeds Komlan Mally who resigned on Friday, less than a year after taking office. Mally was appointed last December, just after the legislative elections won by the ruling Rally for the Togolese People (RPT).