Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala(born June 13, 1954) was appointed in July 2011 as the new Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to this appointment, she was the Managing Director of World Bank (October 2007 - July 2011) and has also held the position of a Finance Ministerand Foreign Ministerof Nigeria, between 2003 and 2006.

She is notable for being the first woman to hold either of those positions. She served as finance minister from July 2003 until her appointment as foreign minister in June 2006, and as foreign minister until her resignation in August 2006.


CAREER

Prior to her ministerial career in Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala was vice-president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. She left it in 2003 after she was appointed to President Obasanjo's cabinetas Finance Ministeron 15 July.

In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club, a group of bilateral creditors, to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debt (US $12 billion) in return for an $18 billion debt write-off. Prior to the partial debt payment and write-off, Nigeria spent roughly US $1 billion every year on debt servicing, without making a dent in the principal owed.

Okonjo-Iweala also introduced the practice of publishing each state's monthly financial allocation from the federal government in the newspapers. She was instrumental in helping Nigeria obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating(of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor's.

Nigeria is considered to have defaulted on its sovereign debt in 1983 (debt rescheduling is considered a type of default by rating agencies) Culled from Wikipedia
DATE OF BIRTH:
June 13, 1954
MARITAL STATUS:
Married to Ikemba Iweala (Physician and Surgeon), MBBS (Ibadan) FRCS (Edinburgh): FACFP(USA)
NATIONALITY: Nigerian
EDUCATION:
Certificate 1997 Havard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Graduate School of Business Administration
General Manager’s Course PhD., January 1981 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Field-Regional Economic Development Dissertation Topic-Credit Policy, Rural Financial Markets & Nigeria’s Agricultural Development
M.C.P., June 1978 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Field-Regional Economics and Development Specialization-Rural Economics, Planning & Rural-Urban Interface
A.B., June 1976 Havard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Field Economics (Graduated Magna cum Laude)
LANGUAGES: English, French, Igbo and Yoruba
WORKING EXPERRIENCE:
December 2007 – Date Managing Director, World Bank, Washington, D.C. No.2 position in the World Bank

Oversight responsibilities for operational activities in South Asia, Europe and Central Asia and Africa Regions, comprising a portfolio of US$81 billion. Also responsible for World Bank Human Resources functions.

Chair of the 2011 – 2013 16th International Development Association (IDA) replenishment of a historic US$49.3 billion to provide grants amd interest-free loans to the world’s poorest countries.
Conducting high level dialogue with top level officials. Heads of States, Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers worldwide. Participating in G-20 and other high-level International Governance meetings. November 2006 – December 2007

Read more about Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from the source: http://www.fmf.gov.ng/the-ministry/management-team/honourable-minister.html