Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (born 13 June 1954) is a Nigerian economist who has been serving as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021.
Notable..
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (born 13 June 1954) is a Nigerian economist who has been serving as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021.
Notable Achivements:
Okonjo-Iweala had a 25-year career at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as a development economist and rose to the No.2 position of Managing Director, Operations
As managing director, she had oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia. Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008–2009 food crises and later during the financial crisis.
In 2010, she was the chair person of the IDA replenishment, the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the poorest countries in the world.
During her time at the World Bank, she was also a member of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Africa, which was set up by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and held meetings between April and October 2008.
Education:
Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Queen's School, Enugu; St. Anne's School, Molete, Ibadan, Oyo State; and the International School Ibadan.
She arrived in the US in 1973 to study at Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976.
She earned a master's degree in city planning in 1978 and her PhD in regional economics and development in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the thesis Credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria's agricultural development.
She received an international fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW.
Other Achivements:
Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization as Director-General. She sits on boards of: Danone, Standard Chartered Bank, MINDS: Mandela Institute for Development 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: African Risk Capacity and Earthshot Prize.
She has sat on the Twitter Board of Directors, and stepped down in February, 2021 in connection with her appointment as Director General of the World Trade Organization.
Okonjo-Iweala serves Brookings Institution as a non-resident distinguished fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in their Global Economy and Development Program.
Okonjo-Iweala was the first Nigerian woman to serve two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria; initially, from 2003 to 2006; and later from 2011 to 2015.
From June to August 2006, she served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria. In 2005, Euromoney named her Global Finance Minister of the Year.