Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been named the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2020. The congratulatory message @forbesafrica, that “The 2020 #AfricanOftheYear Award honoree is… Congratulations to Dr. @NOlweala! Board Chair @Gavi; Board Chair @ARCapicity, gracing the cover of @forbesafrica” have attracted huge commendations from Nigerians.
Responding on her twitter page, Dr Okonjo-Iweala expressed her appreciation, “Thrilled to be named @forbesafrica -CNBC 2020 African of the Year following in the footsteps of my great Brothers @PaulKagame and @akin_adesina. This award is for fellow Africans suffering the health & economic impact of Covid19. The energy and resilience of Africans inspires me!” she said.
Nigerians on twitter are also congratulating our proudly Nigerian Ambassador,
Kelechi_Imo “God is good. You’re a typical African Lady. A woman of substance. You’re a gift to our world. You have proven that being a Nigerian is a blessing rather than a cause. You have shown that it’s possible to attain the biblical good success. Mummy, you inspire us. Congratulations!”
Babalola Jesutosin, “Congratulations @NOIweala seeing you breaking limits gives me some kind of shiver but I love it like that. Indeed a woman of substance, greater heights ma’am.”
@Sundayjamodu “Congrats madam @NOIweala . More wins ma. It’s a great challenge to do more for Nigeria , Africa & world at Large.”
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian-born economist and international development expert. She sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the African Risk Capacity (ARC).
Previously, Okonjo-Iweala spent a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, scaling the ranks to the Number 2 position of Managing Director, Operations (2007-2011). She also served two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria (2003-2006, 2011-2015) under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan respectively.
A distinguished career woman, Okonjo-Iweala had a 25-year career at the World Bank in Washington DC as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director. As Managing Director, she had oversight responsibility for the World Banks $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 Chair 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 the Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, and held meetings between April and October 2008.
The 66-year-old former World Bank director, had been selected as a consensus candidate by the WTO Selection Committee for the role of director general. This move was opposed by the Donald Trump administration which preferred South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee for the job.
Okonjo-Iweala despite the fact that the WTO selection committee determined she “clearly carried the largest support by members” and “clearly enjoyed broad support from members from all levels of development and from all geographic regions.”
She remains the favourite candidate for the position. The selection committee is expected to meet this month in Switzerland to pick a choice between both candidates.