We are pleased to announce that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has joined R4D’s Board of Directors.
Ngozi’s distinguished career includes more than twenty years as a development economist at the World Bank Group from 1978 to 2003, including four years as Managing Director. In 2003, she became Nigeria’s first female Finance Minister and in 2006, its first female Foreign Minister.
She has been a pioneering leader in Nigeria, where as a key figure in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s cabinet between 2003 and 2006, she organized a $30bn debt write-off for her country and helped Nigeria obtain its first sovereign debt rating. During her time as Finance Minister, Ngozi has also worked to combat corruption, make Nigeria’s finances more transparent, and instituted reforms to attract foreign investment to the country.
Ngozi also serves as a board member of the Rockefeller Foundation, African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the International Monetary and Finance Committee. She is also a member or chair of numerous boards and advisory groups in the public, private and non-governmental sectors, including the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Nelson Mandela Institution, the African Institutes of Science and Technology, Friends of the Global Fund Africa, and ONE.
Ngozi holds an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a Ph.D. in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ngozi’s impressive leadership and powerful voice for change will be a fantastic asset to R4D as we expand our work and global footprint.
