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). 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 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. remaining in that post until 1982. taking fourth place with 3.02% of the vote. A residence belonging to Ayéva was ransacked by security forces on 17 August 1998.

In the government named on 20 June 2005, which included members of the opposition, Ayéva was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and African Integration. In the October 2007 parliamentary election, he was the first candidate on the PDR's candidate list for Tchaoudjo Prefecture, but the PDR did not win any seats in the election.

Following the election, Ayéva was replaced as Foreign Minister by another opposition leader, Léopold Gnininvi, in the government of Prime Minister Komlan Mally, named on 13 December 2007.

Ayéva died after a long illness on 15 December 2025, at the age of 83.