Zarifou Ayéva

Zarifou Ayéva (22 April 1942 – 15 December 2025) was a Togolese politician who was the President of the Party for Democracy and Renewal (PDR). He served in the government of Togo as a minister during the 1970s and became an opposition leader in the early 1990s. He was a minor candidate in the 1998 presidential election and later served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007.

== Life and career ==

Ayéva was born in Sokodé, Tchaoudjo Prefecture on 22 April 1942. He was appointed to the government as Minister of Trade, Industry, and Transport on 5 March 1975, and he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the National Iron and Steel Company (Société Nationale de Sidérurgie, SNS) in Lomé in 1977. He was also appointed Secretary-General of the Togolese National Olympic Committee on 17 March 1977.

He was retained in the government as Minister of Trade and Transport on 17 January 1978 before being moved to the position of Minister of Information on 14 November 1978. He was dismissed from the government on 19 March 1979, and was appointed Director-General of SNS on the same day, remaining in that post until 1982.

Ayéva subsequently became the President of the PDR, which...