Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Biography
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the first African and first woman to serve as Director-General of the World Trade Organization. She is a board member of Standard Chartered Bank, Danone, and Minds: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, the Mandela Institute for Development Studies, and GAVI: Rockefeller Foundation, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and R4D: Development, ARC Results: Earth shot Prize and African Risk Capacity, among others In connection with her appointment as WTO Director General, she resigned from her position on the Twitter Board of Directors in February 2021.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Age
She is 68 years old as of 2023. She was born on 13 June 1954 in Ogwashi-Ukwu, Nigeria.She celebrates her birthday on 13 June.
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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Family
Okonjo-Iweala was born in Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, Nigeria, to Professor Chukwuka Okonjo, who served as the Obi (king) of the Obahai royal family of Ogwashi-Ukwu under the Nigerian chieftaincy system.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Education
Okonjo-Iweala went to Queen’s School in Enugu for her education; Molete, Oyo State, St. Anne’s School; and the Ibadan International School. She came to the United States in 1973 to study at Harvard University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in economics in 1976. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a master’s degree in city planning in 1978 and a doctorate in regional economics and development in 1981. Her thesis was titled “Credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria’s agricultural development.” Her doctoral studies were aided by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) international fellowship.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $49.3 billion.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Salary
Iweala was paid a total of £142,000 as a Non-Executive Director at Standard Chartered PLC. Total Cash received £135,000, Equity received nothing, and Pension and other forms of compensation received £7,000.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala World Bank
Okonjo-Iweala worked as a development economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., for 25 years before ascending to the position of Managing Director, Operations, No. 2. She was in charge of the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia while she was managing director. During the food crisis of 2008–2009 and the subsequent financial crisis, Okonjo-Iweala was in charge of a number of World Bank initiatives designed to assist low-income nations. She was the chairperson of the IDA replenishment in 2010, which was a successful effort by the World Bank to raise $49.3 billion for grants and low-interest credit for the world’s poorest nations. She was also a member of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Africa, which was established by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and met from April to October 2008, while she was working at the World Bank.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Finance Minister
Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s Finance Minister twice—from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2015—and briefly held the position of Foreign Minister in 2006. She held both positions for the first time as a woman. She helped Nigeria obtain its first sovereign credit rating (BB minus) in 2006, during her first term as Finance Minister under President Olusegun Obasanjo. She was in charge of negotiations with the Paris Club that resulted in the cancellation of US$18 billion of Nigeria’s debt. She also introduced the practice of publishing the revenue shares of the country’s federal, state, and local governments. She established the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) and re-based GDP for the first time in 24 years during her tenure. In 2012, she ran for president of the World Bank.
NOI-Polls, Nigeria’s first indigenous opinion research organization, was founded by Okonjo-Iweala. Additionally, she established the Centre for the Study of African Economies (C-SEA). Abuja-based development research think tank C-SEA She was nominated for the position of director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2020. On February 15, 2021, Okonjo-Iweala was chosen by all as the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
On March 1, 2021, she began her career as Director General of the WTO. “In close consultation with the United States,” Yoo Myung-hee made her decision to withdraw from the contest.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala achievements
Okonjo-Iweala has been honored with numerous accolades. She has been named one of the 50 Greatest Leaders in the World by Fortune in 2015, one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time in 2014, one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy in 2011 and 2012, one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World by Forbes in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, one of the Top 3 Most Powerful Women in Africa by Forbes in 2012, one of the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Africa by Forbes in 2011, one of the Top 100 Women in Condé Nast International named her one of 73 “brilliant” business influencers worldwide.
Okonjo-Iweala was nominated for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019. She also received High National Honours from the Liberian Republic and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. She also holds the rank of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in Nigeria.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Books
- Chinua Achebe: Teacher of Light, A Biography. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press
- The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy
- Reforming the Unreformable: Lessons from Nigeria.
- Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines
- Women and Leadership