Profile: Zéphirin Diabré, bids for Burkina Faso's presidency again

Zéphirin Diabré is one of the candidates vying for the presidency in Burkina Faso’s general elections this Sunday.

The opposition leader was the main rival of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in 2015. That election, Diabré came in second with 29.65 % of valid votes cast.

At the time, the 61-year old garnered the support of other opposition parties in this West African nation.

This time, he failed to rally their support. An economist by training, Diabré has held several ministerial portfolios under ex-president Blaise Compaoré between 1987-2014.

This former Deputy Director General of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and ex-Africa Director of the French nuclear group Areva is "a high-flying intellectual" and a "hard worker", according to Drissa Traoré, a political science professor.

There are 13 candidates running for the elections.