The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been named one of 100 Global Thinkers by the iconic Washington-based journal, Foreign Policy magazine.
According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Communication to the minister,? Paul C Nwabuikwu, Okonjo-Iweala was named along with a group of distinguished activists, political leaders, diplomats and entrepreneurs from across the world.
They include: US President Barack Obama; French President Nicholas Sarkozy; British Prime Minister David Cameron; former American President, Bill Clinton and Brazilian President, Dilma Roussef. Other recipients include: US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton; Nobel Economics laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei. According to the citation published in the current edition of the journal, Okonjo-Iweala was recognised for her role as a champion of continental economic renaissance who has contributed significantly to putting Africa on the centre stage of global economic focus. It also cited Okonjo-Iweala’s focus on creating jobs and reducing the country’s debt burden, “despite the slump in the global economy and considerable challenges at home, including entrenched corruption and a string of terrorist attacks.”
The citation recalled that as Managing Director of the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala pushed innovative initiatives like “Diaspora Bonds” which allow immigrants in the West to invest in their home countries.