The first African Director-General of the World Trade Organisation

#Women'sWednesday #Powerfulwomen #Influentialwomen #Empoweredwomen

Today is dedicated to all the powerful and influential women around the world. This Women's Wednesday Let's talk about Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

When I became finance minister, they called me Okonjo-Wahala - or 'Trouble Woman.' It means 'I give you hell.' But I don't care what names they call me. I'm a fighter; I'm very focused on what I'm doing, and relentless in what I want to achieve, almost to a fault. If you get in my way, you get kicked. 

                                             -Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala GCON ; born 13 June 1954, is a Nigerian economist, who has been serving as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. Notably, she 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 Earth shot Prize plus others. 
She also previously 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.

Here are few facts about Ngozi that you must know:-

• An economist and international development professional, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has more than 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.

• In March 2021, she became first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

• She has said she believes in the power of trade to lift developing countries out of poverty help them achieve sustainable development.

• Earlier in her career, Okonjo-Iweala had two terms as Nigeria's Finance Minister, from 2003-2006 and 2011-2015; she also briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006.

• She was also Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance that has immunized 760 million children globally.

Here are the achievements of Ngozi:-

• 2004 – TIME’s European Heroes Award
• 2004 – Finance Minister of the Year, Africa Investor Magazine
• 2005 – Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East, Emerging Markets Magazine
• 2005 – Global Finance Minister of the Year, Euromoney
• 2005 – Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East, The Banker
• 2010 – Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award
• 2010 – Global Leadership Award, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
• 2011 – Global Leadership Award, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
• 2011 – President of the Italian Republic Gold Medal, Pia Manzu Centre
• 2014 – David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award
• 2016 – Global Fairness Award, Global Fairness Initiative
• 2016 – Power with Purpose Award, Devex Development Communications Network
• 2017 – Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Award, Aspen Institute
• 2017 – Women’s Economic Empowerment Award, WEConnect International
• 2017 – Vanguard Award, Howard University
• 2017 - BBC's 100 women
• 2020 – African of the Year, Forbes Africa
• 2022 – 50 Over 50: EMEA Award, Forbes
• 2022 – Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement
• 2022 – Humanitarian Award for a Lifetime of Public Service and Advocacy of Sustainable International Development, United Nations Association of New York 

Honorary degrees

Okonjo-Iweala has received honorary Doctorate Degrees from 19 universities worldwide, including some from the most prestigious colleges:

• Brown University (2006),
• Colby College (2007)
• Trinity College, Dublin (2007)
• Amherst College (2009)
• University of Pennsylvania (2013)
• Yale University (2015)
• Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica
• LUISS Guido Carli, Italy (2021)
• American University (2022)
• Nyenrode Business University (2022) 
• London School of Economics and Political Science (2023)

She has also received degrees from a host of Nigerian universities including Abia State University, Delta State University, Abraka, Oduduwa University, Babcock University, and the Universities of Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Ife (Obafemi Awolowo university). In 2019, Okonjo Iweala was awarded an honorary degree from Tel Aviv University.[143] On the 7th of February 2022 Okonjo-Iweala received her 20th honorary Doctorate Degrees from the London School of Economics.

What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be like you or in positions as yours:

I often say that the future of trade is digital, services, and green. But, to build the equitable and prosperous societies we need, the future of trade is also women. Women must be at the front and centre, in the economy and in trade as we seek to recover sustainably from the pandemic.

I would like to end this article with a quote by Ngozi

Women account for about 70% of Africa's food production and manage a large proportion of small enterprises. They are also increasingly represented in legislative and executive leadership positions. 

-Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

 

Let's all stay inspired by Ngozi Okonji Iweala and learn to be the face of the world and not be scared of anyone. We must work hard like Ngozi to achieve our goals no matter what the obstacle!