By Lukman Omikunle
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed has won the Finance Minister of the Year of the 2020 edition of African Banker Awards.
Ms Ahmed was announced today during the virtual Awards ceremony which was pushed back to August to coincide with the African Development Annual Meetings which are taking place this week, with the election of the new president of the bank expected Thursday.
While announcing her as the best of finance ministers in Africa, the organisers noted that despite difficult circumstances Ms Ahmed had managed to push through a set of difficult reforms as well as successfully engaging international partners to help the country navigate an extremely challenging economic environment.
Ms Ahmed, a Nigerian accountant from the Northern region of the country, was appointed as Finance Minister following the resignation of the erstwhile Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun on September 14 2018.
She subsequently became the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning after President Muhammadu Buhari brought the two ministries under her as one, making her the de facto Minister of Economy.
