Nigerian economist, Dr Okonjo-Iweala, made history as she becomes the first woman and the first African to be appointed as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Her appointment was confirmed by the WTO at a special meeting of the General Council, following a selection process that included eight candidates from other countries around the world.
The organization tweet handle on Monday read: “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria is appointed as the next WTO Director-General.
“Her term starts on the 1st of March 2021.”
Okonjo-Iweala, born 13 June 1954, is a Nigerian-American 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).
Okonjo-Iweala had previously 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 President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan respectively.
Okonjo-Iweala was the first woman to become Finance Minister of Nigeria, and first woman to serve in that office twice. In 2005, Euromoney named her global finance minister of the year.
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