Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala    (banker) | |
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| Born | 13 June 1954 |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard |
| Member of | Atlantic Council/Distinguished Leadership Awards, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Rockefeller Foundation |
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian-born banker and World Bank bureaucrat. She sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Lazard Investment Bank, Twitter, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the (ARC). She is in the lead in the race for the top job at the World Health Organization.
She has been showered with international prizes and board memberships, as the global power brokers recognize the value of an eloquent African woman to spearhead their neoliberal agenda.
Contents
Career at World Bank
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.[1] 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 (what the World Bank normally means by assistance is giving a loan on conditions that makes the target economy unable to develop, by straitjacketing it to the Washington Consensus), including demands to slash state budgets in public services like education, infrastructure or basic health services, cut state subsidies to food and fuel, make the currency convertible and cheap, and eliminate protectionist barriers.
Nigerian Government
Okonjo-Iweala was twice Finance Minister in the the world's most corrupt government,the Nigerian. First time was under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003–2006, then again, from 2011–2015 under President Goodluck Jonathan, when she was named Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.
Though she was never charged with corruption, in 2015 almost $20 billion was discovered “lost” after an audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers of state oil revenues. As Finance Minister she backed the usual IMF/World Bank demands for slashing state subsidies for gasoline and privatization of electricity. The cut in 2012 triggered massive street protests, as for many Nigerians, cheap gasoline is only benefit they get from the country’s vast oil wealth.
GAVI and Gates
Connections
Okonjo-Iweala has been showered with international prizes and board memberships, as the global power brokers recognize the value of an eloquent African woman to spearhead their neoliberal agenda.
- While taking the position as Chairman of GAVI Okonjo-Iweala also became “Senior Advisor” to Lazard Ltd., a US investment bank which claims to be the world’s largest independent investment bank.
- In 2018, she joined the Board of the major international bank Standard Chartered.
- She is listed as an "agenda setter" at the World Economic Forum[2].
Government agencies
- Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Member of the International Advisory Board
International organizations
- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Member International Advisory Panel (since 2016)
- GAVI, Chair of the Board (since 2016)
- OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), Member of the Board
- African Development Bank (AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2003-2006, 2011-2015)
- International Monetary Fund(IMF), Member of the International Monetary and Finance Committee (2003-2006, 2011-2015)
- Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, Chair (2004)
Corporate boards
- Twitter, Board of Directors (since 2018)
- Standard Chartered, Independent Non-executive Member of the Board of Directors (since 2017)
- Lazard, Senior Advisor (since 2015)
Non-profit organizations
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2019
- Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2018)
- Results for Development (R4D), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2014)
- Women's World Banking, Member of the Africa Advisory Council (since 2014)
- The B Team, Member (since 2013)
- Friends of the Global Fund Africa, Member of the Board (since 2007)
- Global Financial Integrity (GFI), Member of the Advisory Board (since 2007)
- African Risk Capacity, Chair of the Board
- African University of Science and Technology, Chair of the Board
- Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Member of the Advisory Board
- Global Business Coalition for Education, Member of the Advisory Board
- Mandela Institute for Development Studies(MINDS), Member of the Advisory Board
- Mercy Corps, Member of the Global Leadership Council
- Rockefeller Foundation, Member of the Global Development Network
- Nelson Mandela Institution, Chair of the Board
- One Campaign, Member of the Board[63]
- Oxford Martin School, Member of the Advisory Council
- Vital Voices, Member of the Global Advisory Counci
Awards
Okonjo-Iweala has received numerous recognition and awards. She has been listed as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders (Fortune, 2015), the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World (TIME, 2014), the Top 100 Global Thinkers (Foreign Policy, 2011 and 2012),the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World (Forbes, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014), 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). She was listed among 73 "brilliant" business influencers in the world by Condé Nast International.
In 2019, Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was also conferred High National Honours from the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the Republic of Liberia. She is also the recipient of Nigeria's Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). Other honors include:
2017 – Vanguard Award, Howard University 2017 – Women’s Economic Empowerment Award, WEConnect International 2017 – Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Award, Aspen Institute 2016 – Power with Purpose Award, Devex Development Communications Network 2016 – Global Fairness Award, Global Fairness Initiative 2014 – David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award 2011 – President of the Italian Republic Gold Medal, Pia Manzu Centre 2011 – Global Leadership Award,Chicago Council on Global Affairs 2010 – Global Leadership Award, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs 2010 – Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award 2004 – TIME’s European Heroes Award 2004 – Finance Minister of the Year, Africa Investor Magazine 2004 – Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East, The Banker 2005 – Global Finance Minister of the Year, Euromoney 2005 – Finance Minister of the Year for Africa and the Middle East, Emerging Markets Magazine
Honorary degrees
Okonjo-Iweala has received honorary degrees from 14 universities worldwide, including some from the most prestigious colleges: the University of Pennsylvania (2013), Yale University (2015), Amherst College (2009) Trinity College, Dublin (2007), Brown University (2006), Colby College (2007), and Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica. 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). In 2019, Okonjo Iweala was awarded an honorary degree from Tel Aviv University.
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munich Security Conference/2013 | 1 February 2013 | 3 February 2013 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 49th Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2014 | 31 January 2014 | 2 February 2014 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 50th Munich Security Conference |
| Munich Security Conference/2022 | 18 February 2022 | 20 February 2022 | Germany Munich Bavaria | Slightly less than 1/3 of the 664 of the participants have pages here |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2004 | 21 January 2004 | 25 January 2004 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | 2068 billionaires, CEOs and their politicians and "civil society" leaders met under the slogan Partnering for Prosperity and Security. "We have the people who matter," said World Economic Forum Co-Chief Executive Officer José María Figueres. |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2011 | 26 January 2011 | 30 January 2011 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | 2229 guests in Davos, with the theme: "Shared Norms for the New Reality". |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2013 | 23 January 2013 | 27 January 2013 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | 2500 mostly unelected leaders met to discuss "leading through adversity" |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2014 | 22 January 2014 | 25 January 2014 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | 2604 guests in Davos considered "Reshaping The World" |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2016 | 20 January 2016 | 23 January 2016 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | Attended by over 2500 people, both leaders and followers, who were explained how the Fourth Industrial Revolution would changed everything, including being a "revolution of values". |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2017 | 17 January 2017 | 20 January 2017 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | 2950 known participants, including prominently Bill Gates. "Offers a platform for the most effective and engaged leaders to achieve common goals for greater societal leadership." |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2019 | 22 January 2019 | 25 January 2019 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | "The reality is that we are in a Cold War [against China] that threatens to turn into a hot one." |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2020 | 21 January 2020 | 24 January 2020 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | This mega-summit of the world's ruling class and their political and media appendages happens every year, but 2020 was special, as the continuous corporate media coverage of COVID-19 started more or less from one day to the next on 20/21 January 2020, coinciding with the start of the meeting. |
| WEF/Annual Meeting/2023 | 16 January 2023 | 20 January 2023 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | The theme of the meeting was "Cooperation in a Fragmented World" |
