AFRICAN NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA Of The Year
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been adjudged the ‘2020 African of the Year’. Previous winners have been Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2018) and African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina (2019).
ABOUT 17 YEARS AGO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala challenged Nigeria’s patriarchy by becoming the longest-serving finance minister, the first foreign minister and most importantly, the first woman to ever hold those positions.
Today, she is on the brink of yet another first, as one of two final contenders for the top post as the seventh Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a position which will make Okonjo-Iweala the first African and once again the first woman to lead the prestigious international trade body.
Okonjo-Iweala has the largest support, from the group’s 164 members across all geographies; this was following a grueling five-month competitive vetting process that began with eight candidates.
The final decision is still awaited and could come anytime.
But hurdles are nothing new for Okonjo-Iweala. As Nigeria’s finance minister, serving two terms under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan, Okonjo-Iweala has had to slay her fair share of goliaths in an illustrious career that has
