Earlier this year, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made history by being chosen as the first woman and the first African to serve as the World Trade Organization’s Director-General. She is a global finance professional, human welfare champion, and international development expert with over 40 years of experience working around the world.
Born in 1954 to a royal family in the southern Nigeria town of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Okonjo-Iweala spent most of her childhood with her grandmother while her parents were studying in the United States, experiencing hardships which shaped her vision of life and ambition.
“I know what it means to go to the stream to fetch water, what it means when people are poor and don't have enough to eat. It's not enough to say you know about poverty. You have to live it,” she once explained.
She left home to study economics at Harvard University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1977. Four years later, she earned a Ph.D. in regional economics and development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); her thesis focused on credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria’s agricultural development.
She has spent much of her career at the World Bank, where she started out as an intern, eventually rising to the number-two position of managing director of operations, overseeing the development portfolio for South Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia. Over the years, she has spearheaded several initiatives to assist low-income countries.
Throughout her career, she also made a name for herself in politics by serving as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Foreign Minister. She was the longest-serving finance minister in her native country and the first woman to hold both positions. While in power, she contributed to the overhaul of Nigeria’s trade policy, developed reform programs that helped improve governmental transparency, fought corruption, and stabilized its economy.
Given her achievements, it is no surprise that she was recognized as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World by Forbes magazine, as well as one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune.