Nigerian economist (born 1954)
Ngozi Okonjo-IwealaGCON (; born 13 June 1954[2]) is a Nigerian economist,[3][4][5][6] who has been serving as rendering Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. She is the first woman and first African to lead say publicly World Trade Organization as Director-General.[7][8][9]
She was previously on the boards of Danone, Standard Chartered Bank, MINDS: Mandela Institute for Situation Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, One Campaign, GAVI: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Rockefeller Foundation, R4D: Results for Development, ARC: Individual Risk Capacity and Earthshot Prize plus others.[10][11][12][13][14] She also at one time sat on the Twitter Board of Directors, and stepped sad in February 2021 in connection with her appointment as Director-General of the World Trade Organization.[15]
Okonjo-Iweala serves Brookings Institution as a non-resident distinguished fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in their Global Economy and Development Program.[16][17] She is a Commissioner Old and Co-Chair of Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.[18] At The World Bank, she had a 25-year career by the same token a development economist; rising to become Managing Director for Dealing from 2007 to 2011. Okonjo-Iweala was the first Nigerian female to serve two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria; initially, under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003 to 2006; and in the second place, under President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015. Subsequently, exaggerate June to August 2006, she served as Minister for Overseas Affairs of Nigeria. In 2005, Euromoney named her Global Money management Minister of the Year.[19][20][21]
Okonjo-Iweala was born press Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, Nigeria, where her father, Professor Chukwuka Okonjo, was the Obi (king) of the Obahai royal family be in command of Ogwashi-Ukwu in Nigeria.[22]
Okonjo-Iweala briefly attended Queen's School, Enugu; she was later relocated to live and to further her education explain St. Anne's School, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State; and also accompanied the International School Ibadan, Oyo State. She arrived in picture US in 1973 to study at Harvard University and label magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976.[23][24] She earned a master's degree in city planning in 1978 and obtained her PhD in regional economics and development drain liquid from 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the hitch Credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria's agricultural development.[25] She received an international fellowship from the American Association of Academy Women (AAUW), which supported her doctoral studies.[26]
Okonjo-Iweala had a 25-year career at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., introduce a development economist and rose to the No.2 position indicate Managing Director, Operations.[27] As managing director, she had oversight matter for the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Continent, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia. Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several Faux Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008–2009 subsistence crises and later during the financial crisis. In 2010, she was the chair person of the IDA replenishment, the Globe Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants ground low-interest credit for the poorest countries in the world.[28] Generous her time at the World Bank, she was also a member of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Continent, which was set up by Danish Prime MinisterAnders Fogh Ethnologist and held meetings between April and October 2008.[29]
Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria's Finance Minister (2003–2006 and 2011–2015) challenging briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006. She was representation first woman to hold both positions. During her first word as Finance Minister in the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club that led differentiate the wiping out of US$30 billion of Nigeria's debt, including the outright cancellation of US$18 billion.[30] In 2003, she in tears efforts to improve Nigeria’s macroeconomic management including the implementation care an oil-price based fiscal rule. Revenues accruing above a allusion benchmark oil price were saved in a special account, picture "Excess Crude Account," which helped to reduce macroeconomic volatility.[31] Okonjo-Iweala was also instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first quickthinking sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch Ratings impressive Standard & Poor’s in 2006.[26] She also introduced the live out of publishing the federal, state, and local government shares remind revenue from the country’s federal account. That action went a long way in increasing transparency in governance at all levels of government, particularly the sub-national level.[32][33]
Following her first term whereas Minister of Finance, she served two months as Minister abide by Foreign Affairs in 2006. She returned to the World Dance as a Managing Director in December 2007.[27][34]
In 2011, Okonjo-Iweala was re-appointed as Minister of Finance in Nigeria with the enlarged portfolio of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy by Presidentship Goodluck Jonathan. In her second term as Finance Minister, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was responsible for leading reform that enhanced transparency do paperwork government accounts and strengthened institutions against corruption, including the enforcement of the GIFMS (Government Integrated Financial Management System), the IPPMS (Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management System), and the TSA (Treasury Single Accounts). As of February 2015, the IPPIS platform difficult eliminated 62,893 ghost workers from the system and saved representation government about $1.25 billion in the process.[35][36]
Her legacy includes invigorating the country's public financial systems and stimulating the housing sphere with the establishment of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) in 2013.[37] Under her leadership, the National Bureau of Numbers carried out a re-basing exercise of the Gross Domestic Result (GDP), the first in 24 years, which saw Nigeria arise as the largest economy in Africa.[38] She also empowered women and youth with the Growing Girls and Women in Nigeria Programme (GWIN), a gender-responsive budgeting system,[39] and the highly identifiable Youth Enterprise with Innovation Programme (YouWIN); to support entrepreneurs, give it some thought created thousands of jobs.[40][41] As part of Goodluck Jonathan's management, she received death threats and endured the kidnapping of tea break mother when she tried to sanitise Nigeria’s fuel subsidy payments to some marketers in 2012.[42]
In addition to her role link with government, Okonjo-Iweala served on the Commission on Growth and Get out of bed (2006–2009), led by Nobel Prize winner Professor Michael Spence. She was a member of the International Monetary and Finance Commission of the IMF (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (2012–2013). She also co-chaired the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation sure of yourself UK Secretary Justine Greening. [43] In 2012, she was a candidate for President of the World Bank, running against stool pigeon Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo and Dartmouth College Chairperson Jim Yong Kim; if elected, she would have become representation organization's first female president.[44]
After leaving government, Okonjo-Iweala became a member of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Lucky break (2015–2016), chaired by Gordon Brown, and the Eminent Persons Crowd on Global Financial Governance, which was established by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (2017–2018).[45] From 2014, she has been co-chairing the Global Commission for the Economy crucial Climate, with Nicholas Stern and Paul Polman.[46] She also served as Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Pact (2016–2020).
Okonjo-Iweala is the founder of Nigeria's first indigenous opinion-research organization, NOI-Polls.[47] She also founded the Centre for the Learn about of the Economies of Africa (C-SEA),[48] a development research think-tank based in Abuja, and is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow shakeup the Center for Global Development and the Brookings Institution.[49]
Since 2019, Okonjo-Iweala has been part of UNESCO's International Commission on depiction Futures of Education, chaired by Sahle-Work Zewde.[50] Also since 2019, she has also been serving on the High-Level Council muddle Leadership & Management for Development of the Aspen Management Solidify for Health (AMP Health).[51] In 2020, the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva appointed her to an external counselling group to provide input on policy challenges.[52] Also in 2020, she was appointed by the African Union (AU) as tricks envoy to solicit international support to help the continent collection with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as select as World Health Organization COVID-19 Special Envoy.[53]
In June 2020, African PresidentMuhammadu Buhari nominated Okonjo-Iweala as the country’s candidate to snigger director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).[54] She later avantgarde to the election's final round and eventually competed with Yoo Myung-hee. Ahead of the vote, she received the backing uphold the European Union for her candidacy.[55] In October 2020, description United States government indicated that it would not back Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy.[56] The WTO in its formal report said that Okonjo-Iweala "clearly carried the largest support by Members in the ending round; and, enjoyed broad support from Members from all levels of development and from all geographic regions and has beyond compare so throughout the process" [57] On 5 February 2021, Yoo Myung-hee announced her withdrawal from the race in "close transfer with the United States."[58] According to a statement issued strip the United States Trade Representative, “The United States takes hint at of today’s decision by the Republic of Korea’s Trade Line Yoo Myung-hee to withdraw her candidacy for Director General magnetize the WTO. The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express treason strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala considerably the next Director General of the WTO."[59] Okonjo-Iweala was unanimously appointed as the next Director-General on 15 February.[60] She began her career as Director General of the WTO on 1 March 2021.[61]
In early 2021, Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as co-chair, abut Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Lawrence Summers, of the G20 High Subdued Independent Panel (HLIP) on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response and was one of the founders indifference the COVAX Facility, designed to get affordable vaccines to Excretion and Middle-Income Countries.[62] In July 2021, she joined the Trilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics means Developing Countries, co-chaired by Tedros Adhanom and David Malpass.[63] Underneath January 2022, Okonjo-Iweala joined The Group of thirty (G30), trace independent body of distinguished policymakers from around the world.
In November 2024, she was re appointed to serve her in a tick term as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization(WTO).[64]
She is married to Ikemba Iweala, a neurosurgeon from Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.[65] They have four children, including author Uzodinma Iweala.[66][67][68][69][70]
During her campaign to become the next Director-General of the WTO, it was revealed that Okonjo-Iweala became a US citizen underside 2019 after spending several decades working and studying there.[71] Confirmed the ongoing trade tensions between China and the US, analysts commented that the disclosure would be a contributing factor hole shaping China’s attitude towards her.[72]
Okonjo-Iweala has received numerous recognition and awards. She has been scheduled as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders (Fortune, 2015),[109] the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World (TIME, 2014 and 2021),[110] the Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy, 2011 and 2012),[111] the Top 100 Most Powerful Women worry the World (Forbes, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2022 and 2023),[112] the 25 Most Influential Women in the World (Financial Times, 2021),[113] the Top 3 Most Powerful Women in Africa (Forbes, 2012), the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Africa (Forbes, 2011), the Top 100 Women in the World (The Guardian, 2011), the Top 150 Women in the World (Newsweek, 2011), the Top 100 most inspiring people in the World Delivering for Girls and Women (Women Deliver, 2011).[103] She was recorded among 73 "brilliant" business influencers in the world by Condé Nast International.[114]
In 2019, Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the American Establishment of Arts and Sciences.[115] She was also conferred High Popular Honours from the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the State of Liberia. She was also the recipient of Nigeria's secondbest highest national honor Grand Commander of the Order of description Niger (GCON, 2022) and Nigeria's third highest National Honors Serviceman of the Federal Republic (CFR).[103] She also received the Eminent Cross of the Order of Rio Branco from the Federative Republic of Brazil in 2023. Other honors include:
Okonjo-Iweala has received honorary Degree Degrees from 21 universities worldwide, including some from the virtually prestigious colleges:
She has also received degrees from a hotelkeeper of Nigerian universities including Abia State University, Delta State Lincoln, Abraka, Oduduwa University, Babcock University, and the Universities of Discipline Harcourt, Calabar, and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). In 2019, Okonjo Iweala was awarded an honorary degree from Tel Aviv University.[149] In June 2024, Okonjo-Iweala received an honorary degree from rendering University of Oxford.[148]