The Rise and Rise of Okonjo-Iweala
Afew days ago, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed a Director at Twitter, as the social media behemoth reshuffled its board. According to the Executive Chairman of Twitter, Omid Kordestani, Okonjo-Iweala would be an incredible asset for the company as “it strives toward transparency in its global operations.” It’s yet another feather in the cap of highly-accomplished economist who not only became Nigeria’s first female Minister of Finance, but served two terms; from 2003 to 2006, and from 2011 to 2015. In the intervening period, Okonjo-Iweala was Managing Director of the World Bank between 2007 and 2011, in continuation of a distinguished career with the global body that started in 1982.
Okonjo-Iweala also sits on the board of a few other internation- ally-acclaimed organisations. She chairs the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC). She is also an independent non-executive director at Standard Chartered Plc in the United Kingdom in addition to being a Senior Advisor at Lazard.
She is employed with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and is also an Adviser to World Bank on the Stolen Assets Recovery initiative. In a response on her official Twitter handle, @NOIweala, she tweeted, “Twitter is a powerful platform that continues to be used as a strong connector for the global community, and I ’m thrilled to be a part of the team. “As we strive to build a better world for tomorrow, Twitter can amplify messages and drive critical conversations around today’s most important issues.
“I look forward to partnering with Twitter’s talented directors and leadership team as we work to leverage the power of Twitter for good.”