Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the director-general of the World Trade Organization – the first woman and first African to hold the position.

An economist and international development expert with over 40 years of experience, Okonjo-Iweala broke barriers serving as Nigeria's first female and longest-serving finance minister, and later as the first female foreign minister. She chaired the boards of the African Risk Capacity Group and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and cochaired the board of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. She has additionally served on the boards of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Twitter (now X).

Okonjo-Iweala gained valuable international finance experience during her 25-year career at the World Bank, where she rose to the position of managing director, the second most senior role in the organization. She has been recognized and lauded for her work, being named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2014 and 2021, one of Financial Times' 25 Most Influential Women in the World in 2021, and Forbes' Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World eight times throughout her career.

Okonjo-Iweala has authored and coauthored several books, including Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons with Julia Gillard, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines, Reforming the UnReformable: Lessons from Nigeria, and The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard University and a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, alongside over twenty honorary degrees from some of the world's most prestigious institutions.

Source: Office of the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, August 2025