Quito, October 16: Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, seemed headed to victory in Ecuador's presidential runoff election Sunday. With 93 per cent of the votes counted, electoral officials said Noboa held a 4 1/2-point lead over Luisa González, a leftist lawyer and ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa.

González conceded defeat during a speech before supporters Sunday night and said she planned to call Noboa to congratulate him. Noboa, 35, would lead Ecuador during a period marked by unprecedented violence that even claimed the life of a presidential candidate. Ecuador: Voters Reject Oil Drilling in the Amazon.

Noboa's political career began in 2021, when he earned a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. The US-educated businessman opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father's Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.

His father, Álvaro Noboa, is the richest man in Ecuador thanks to a conglomerate that started in the growing and shipping of bananas — Ecuador's main crop — and now includes more than 128 companies in dozens of countries. The elder Noboa unsuccessfully ran for president five times.

The president's term will run only through May 2025, which is what remains of the tenure of President Guillermo Lasso. He cut his term short when he dissolved the country's National Assembly in May as lawmakers carried out impeachment proceedings against him over alleged improprieties in a contract by a state-owned company.

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