Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), reappointed for a second term, has also been named one of Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World in 2024, marking her eighth appearance on the list.



In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Okonjo-Iweala celebrated the recognition alongside four other African women: &#8220;Honoured to be on the list of the 2024 Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, for the 8th time! This is an honor I do not take for granted. I wish to congratulate all my fellow women Honorees, in particular the 4 other African Women on the list – H.E President @SuluhuSamia of Tanzania, H.E Prime Minister @SuminwaJudith of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ms Mpumi Madisa – CEO of Bidvest, and our very own @MoAbudu. Let’s hope for even more African Women next time!&#8221;



Her tenure as WTO Director-General comes during a period of complex global trade disruptions, where she has been instrumental in pushing for equitable reforms and addressing the needs of developing nations.



In response to her reappointment, Okonjo-Iweala reaffirmed her commitment to the WTO’s mission: &#8220;Today, it is with humility and a great sense of honour that I thank each and every one of the 166 WTO members for the consensus they achieved in supporting my reappointment! Thank you for the wonderful words of recognition and support. I don’t take this lightly. I also want to thank my colleagues in the Secretariat Staff for their dedication and hard work.



&#8220;This is an enormous responsibility and I will redouble my efforts to work with each and every member to try and deliver the results this organization needs, including the necessary reforms to make it fit for 21st century challenges. We’ve done it before, we can do it again! I am also grateful to my family, my country, to the Africa Region, and to all my friends and colleagues from all over the world who have reached out with hundreds of congratulatory messages. Thank you for the recognition!&#8221;



A globally respected economist and finance expert, Okonjo-Iweala’s career spans decades. Educated at Harvard University and earning her doctorate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she became a household name during her two terms as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, where her reforms stabilized the economy and secured $18 billion in debt relief. Her bold leadership earned her international acclaim, including the moniker ‘the Iron Lady of Finance’.



She has held the position as WTO Director-General since 2021, making history as the first African and first woman leader to do so.

World Leaders Day At The COP29 Global Climate Talks

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Reappointed As WTO Director-General And Also Celebrates Inclusion In Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women List For Eighth Time

On the recent three-day visit to Nigeria with her husband Prince Harry, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, impressed, also inadvertently bringing local fashion to the spotlight.



She had joined the Duke of Sussex to the West African country to promote Invictus Games, a multi-sport event empowering serving military members and veterans to overcome physical and mental challenges.



During an event for leading Nigerian women leaders in Abuja, moderated by media mogul Mo Abudu, Markle was on stage, alongside Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), wearing a bright red dress from Oriré (meaning good luck in Yoruba), a bespoke women’s clothing brand, perhaps as a nod to her Nigerian heritage.



Known as the Dire Dress, priced at ₦255,000 ($173), the strappy mid-length outfit quickly went viral on social media.



Perhaps struggling to keep up with the demand, the brand issued a statement on Instagram: &#8220;We are experiencing some downtime on the website due to unanticipated volume of traffic. Our team is working on getting it back up as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.&#8221;



As of now, the online store is back up, with the Dire Dress available for pre-order only.



While on tour, the royal couple also visited the Lightway Academy in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, where they interacted with children and learned about the institution&#8217;s initiatives.



At the Nigeria Unconquered charity in the same city, the Prince engaged in a game of sitting volleyball with army veterans, as Markle watched from the sidelines. He also spent time with wounded and injured Nigerian service members at the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria.



&#8220;It’s about looking at the bigger picture – promoting social causes and impacting lives,&#8221; Nigerian analyst Damilare Asiwaju shares with FORBES AFRICA. &#8220;Nigeria right now is going through one of the most difficult times in history and a little bit of social welfare engagement would do no harm.&#8221;



&#8220;Be it the organizing of the charity sporting event for veterans living with disabilities to try and give them a life back or the co-hosting of a women’s leadership event where the advocacy for gender equality was brought to the fore or the inspirational heartwarming discussions with young students, Nigeria didn’t just roll out a red carpet for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex just for public fanfare alone, we benefited from the benevolence of two &#8216;private individuals&#8217; who have dedicated their lives to make the underprivileged &#8216;royalty&#8217; too.&#8221;

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Visit Nigeria – Day 2

Meghan Markle Sparkles On Nigeria Tour With Prince Harry

Untitled design (36)

The World’s Most Powerful Women

Untitled design (19)

50 Over 50: EMEA 2022

As FORBES AFRICA celebrates a landmark 10th year, we look back on our stellar collection of cover stars and features and some of the most &#8220;quotable quotes&#8221; from the last ten years. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-Dec_Jan-RGB-793x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-52876" width="298" height="385" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-Dec_Jan-RGB-793x1024.jpg 793w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-Dec_Jan-RGB-232x300.jpg 232w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-Dec_Jan-RGB-768x991.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-Dec_Jan-RGB-1190x1536.jpg 1190w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-Dec_Jan-RGB.jpg 1258w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px" /></figure></div>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">I often say I can sleep on a mud floor as well as a feathered bed and be very comfortable. It has made me someone who can do without things in life because of what we went through.-Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, December 2020 /January 2021</blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“IF WE CONTINUE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS IN AFRICA WE CAN CREATE A VERY EXCITING AND COMPETITIVE GLOBAL MARKET HERE.”– Patrice Motsepe, October 2011 (launch issue)</blockquote>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-28-at-17.31.24.png" alt="" class="wp-image-53194" width="439" height="349" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-28-at-17.31.24.png 686w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-28-at-17.31.24-300x239.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 439px) 100vw, 439px" /></figure></div>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-782x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-52782" width="318" height="416" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-782x1024.jpg 782w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-229x300.jpg 229w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-768x1006.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-1173x1536.jpg 1173w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1.jpg 1240w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px" /></figure></div>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">THERE IS NO BULLSHIT WITH WOMEN. WE DON’T WASTE TIME OUT OF POLITENESS.– Wendy Appelbaum, August 2012</blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">You have to sit down and look at your business model and say ‘can it be interrupted’? – Jannie Mouton, July 2017</blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">LIFE IS ABOUT TRIPPING AND FALLING AND LEARNING FROM MISTAKES, PULLING YOUR STRENGTHS AND MOVING ON.– Gbenga Oyebode, July 2018</blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">It’s not only all about how much money you would have made and what you would have got. It’s about having a little bit of fun.” – Sol Kerzner, October 2014</blockquote>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2018-MARCH-RGB-793x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-52852" width="414" height="535" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2018-MARCH-RGB-793x1024.jpg 793w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2018-MARCH-RGB-232x300.jpg 232w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2018-MARCH-RGB-768x992.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2018-MARCH-RGB-1189x1536.jpg 1189w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2018-MARCH-RGB.jpg 1258w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 414px) 100vw, 414px" /></figure></div>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-MAR-RGB-793x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-52878" width="336" height="434" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-MAR-RGB-793x1024.jpg 793w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-MAR-RGB-232x300.jpg 232w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-MAR-RGB-768x991.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-MAR-RGB-1190x1536.jpg 1190w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FA-2020-MAR-RGB.jpg 1258w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /></figure></div>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“If you fall flat on your face, beat yourself up and do it again until you succeed&#8230;” – Richard Branson, March 2018</blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“USING YOUR INFLUENCE TO CREATE IMPACT AND BETTER THE LIVES OF OTHERS — THAT IS WHAT BEING A POWERFUL WOMAN MEANS TO ME.” – Graça Machel, March 2020</blockquote>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-28-at-17.31.36.png" alt="" class="wp-image-53193" width="339" height="384" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-28-at-17.31.36.png 454w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-28-at-17.31.36-265x300.png 265w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 339px) 100vw, 339px" /></figure></div>

quotes

FORBES AFRICA 10TH ANNIVERSARY: FROM PAST EDITIONS- Who Said What

TOPLINE Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed Monday as the director-general of the World Trade Organization, becoming the first woman and the first African national to lead the global trade body. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>After growing up in Nigeria during the Biafran civil war, Okonjo-Iweala studied development economics at Harvard and earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>She has made history throughout her career, becoming the first woman to serve as both the Nigerian finance minister in 2003 and foreign affairs minister in 2006.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Okonjo-Iweala was also the first woman to run for the presidency at the World Bank, where she spent more than two decades.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



The appointment of Okonjo-Iweala clears a major administrative hurdle for the WTO, which has been without an official leader since former director general Roberto Azevêdo stepped down from the position a year early in August. The leadership vacuum came at the same time that the global trade referee faced an upended global supply chain from the pandemic and ongoing tariff disputes between some of the largest economies.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h3>



&#8220;A strong WTO is vital if we are to recover fully and rapidly from the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



The Trump administration refused to back Okonjo-Iweala for the position last fall, saying she lacked trade experience. While 163 other nations coalesced behind Okonjo-Iweala, the U.S. announced in October it would officially back South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee in the everyone-must-agree race. But President Joe Biden signaled last week he would reverse efforts to block the appointment, all but ensuring unanimous support of Okonjo-Iweala at the WTO.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h3>



When Okonjo-Iweala takes office on March 1, she is set to face significant challenges following gaps in leadership and stalled trade disputes. Former President Donald Trump was highly critical of the WTO and blocked judge appointments on its key decision-making body, upending the organization at the same time that it ramped up global trade disputes.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h3>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2020/12/08/power-rising-these-are-the-women-to-watch-in-2021/?sh=f3eb21e767f2">Power Rising: These Are The Women To Watch In 2021</a>



<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/cover-story/2020/12/04/african-of-the-year-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/">African Of The Year: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala</a>



By Gina Heeb, Forbes Staff



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ginaheeb/"></a>

US-WTO-SECRETARY GENERAL-NGOZI

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Becomes First Woman, African To Lead World Trade Organization

Like wealth, fame, or even love, power is not static. As any of the 17 newcomers to the 2020 list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women can attest, a person can quickly gain power through elections, mergers, and acquisitions, or the stroke of a pen affirming a promotion. Likewise, as the women who’ve fallen off the Power Women list illustrate, power can just as easily fade when a company fails (we hardly knew ye, Quibi), a board wants a new direction, or a country wants a new administration.



Sometimes, though, power shifts gradually: a person is nominated for a position, but doesn’t yet have the job. She has taken the top job, but hasn’t had time to make her mark on the organization or execute the turnaround that is crucial for survival. Or perhaps she is clearly in charge but is methodical in growing market share, creating a company or investment fund that is large but not hasn’t yet reached the level that earns her a spot among the top 100 most powerful women around the globe.



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2019/12/12/power-rising-these-are-the-women-to-watch-in-2020/?sh=36ec15567964">As we noted last year</a>, this is not to say that women who have not quite yet arrived aren’t powerful. In fact, their power is rising, and likely at a rate that could earn them a spot on the power list as soon as next year. To that end, these are the women to watch for 2021:



Janet Yellen:&nbsp;The former chair of the Federal Reserve last ranked No. 6 on the Power Women list, in 2016, but fell off the list when she was not renominated for the role. With the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahaider/2020/12/01/bidens-economic-team-and-first-female-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-supported-by-powerful-women/?sh=48c196272418">news</a>&nbsp;that president-elect Joe Biden has decided to nominate Yellen as his Treasury Secretary—a move that would make her the first woman to hold this particular Cabinet position—Yellen’s return to the power list is all but one Senate confirmation away. (And this, too, she should achieve, having already notched bipartisan support to become the first female Fed chair in 2014.)



Dana Canedy: A Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who is also the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, Canedy has long been respected by writers and media types for decades. (Her Pulitzer was for her work on the incisive 2001 New York Times Series, “How Race Is Lived In America.”) In July, she was appointed as the senior vice president and publisher of Simon &amp; Schuster, the eponymous imprint of one of America’s largest book publishers. Canedy is the first Black woman to have the job, and with Simon &amp; Schuster poised to merge with Penguin Random House (pending clearance from antitrust regulators), her influence could soon grow even larger.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-764x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49219" width="271" height="362" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-764x1024.jpg 764w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-224x300.jpg 224w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-768x1030.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-1527x2048.jpg 1527w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-300x402.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-892818756-scaled.jpg 1909w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px" /><figcaption>Pearlena Igbokwe. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Pearlena Igbokwe: In September, NBC promoted Igbokwe to chairman of the Universal Studio Group, a move that effectively handed her the baton of power from former group head (and Power Woman) Bonnie Hammer. Jeff Shell, the CEO of NBCUniversal, called Igbokwe “ideally suited” to run the company’s television studios and cited her “extraordinary taste.” Having overseen critically-acclaimed comedies like “Russian Doll,” &#8220;Superstore,&#8221; “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and “The Good Place,” Igbokwe’s next decisions at NBC are almost certain to entertain.



Catherine MacGregor:&nbsp;Eight months after the board of directors at French utility company Engie pushed Isabelle Kocher out of the CEO suite, the company has appointed longtime oil and gas executive MacGregor as her successor. MacGregor will start the role in January.



Julia Cheek: The 36-year-old founder and CEO of at-home testing company Everlywell <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2020/12/03/at-home-health-testing-company-everlywell-raises-175-million-series-d-round-reaching--13-billion-valuation/?sh=244c28115702">announced</a> in early December that her company had raised a $175 million Series D round of funding—a capital injection that propelled the company to a $1.3 billion valuation. With the pandemic accelerating consumer demand for (and comfort with) at-home health testing kits, Cheek is confident Everlywell will continue to grow. “Hopefully,” she told Forbes, “we’ll emerge as one of the winners.”



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-1024x776.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49221" width="356" height="270" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-1024x776.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-300x227.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-768x582.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-1536x1165.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-2048x1553.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1137862240-600x455.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 356px) 100vw, 356px" /><figcaption> Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Anna Diamantopoulou, Kersti Kaljulaid and Cecilia Malmstrom: All three women are running to be the next head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). All three are already pretty influential within Europe: Diamantopoulou has had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniefillion/2020/11/27/anna-diamantopoulou-wants-to-lead-the-oecds-post-covid-recovery/?sh=6d59a5061c19">a long career in Greek politics</a>; Kaljulaid is the first woman have to ever been elected as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniefillion/2020/11/10/estonias-president-wants-to-lead-the-oecds-ditigal-revolution/?sh=52d9e4445a29">president of Estonia</a>; and Malmstrom was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniefillion/2020/11/19/cecilia-malmstrom-wants-to-bring-her-trade-expertise-to-the-oecd/?sh=39a9f9cf5337">Europe’s trade commissioner</a>&nbsp;for five years until 2019. Any one of the three would be the first woman to run the OECD, which is an intergovernmental organization whose goal is to stimulate economic progress.



Dr. Özlem Türeci: As the co-founder and chief medical officer of BioNTech, a German biotech company, Türeci was, until 2020, focused on researching and developing cancer treatments. But when her husband and co-founder, Ugur Sahin, realized in January that Covid had the potential to become a pandemic, their work shifted—as did their global profile. BioNTech partnered with Pfizer in March to develop a Covid vaccine, and last month, the two companies announced that their drug, which relies on mRNA technology, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2020/11/18/pfizer-biontech-says-covid-19-vaccine-is-95-effective-will-seek-emergency-approval-within-days/?sh=569b110441f7">is 95% effective</a>. With vaccine deployment set to be the dominant story of 2021, the effect Türeci’s work can only grow larger.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49081" width="353" height="234" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-462834336-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px" /><figcaption>Nigeria&#8217;s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s first female finance minister (and its longest serving) and spent 25 years working for the World Bank. She sits on the boards of Twitter and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and is poised to become the first female head of the World Trade Organization. It is for these reasons, and more, that Forbes Africa named her its <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/cover-story/2020/12/04/african-of-the-year-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">African Person of the Year 2020</a> and that we’re calling her a woman to watch closely in 2021.



-By Maggie McGrath, Forbes Staff

Federal Reserve Jackson Hole Economic Symposium

Power Rising: These Are The Women To Watch In 2021

FRANCE-AFRICA-FORUM

African Of The Year: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The world’s most powerful woman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has a lot on her mind these days: Mediterranean migrants, Russian sanctions, homegrown spying scandals, Eurozone stability and the Germanwings crash, to name a few pressing issues. One thing she surely isn’t thinking about — but we are — is that come next year’s U.S. elections, she could lose her title for the first time since 2010 to the one person with a credible and mathematical chance of “leading” the world.
Hillary Clinton has appeared on this FORBES ranking every year since it launched in 2004 as, in order, a senator, secretary of state and influential personality. In 2015, Clinton is No. 2, just a breath and a ballot away from the Most Powerful Woman crown.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30068 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-457208350-300x204.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="204" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-457208350-300x204.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-457208350-600x409.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-457208350-768x524.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-457208350.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
This is FORBES’ definitive annual audit of the foremost heads of state, iconic entrepreneurs and CEOS, celebrity role models, billionaire activists, and pioneer philanthropists, all ranked by money, media momentum, spheres of influence and impact.
This year’s top 10: Merkel and Clinton followed by Melinda Gates, Janet Yellen, Mary Barra, Christine Lagarde, Dilma Rousseff, Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Wojcicki and Michelle Obama.
The most powerful women in politics, philanthropy, business and tech are Merkel, Gates, Barra and Sandberg, respectively. Our top ranking billionaire this year is Oprah Winfrey at No. 12, who has a personal net worth of $3 billion. Ana Patricia Botin, the newly installed chair of Banco Santander, is the top woman in finance at No. 18. Beyoncé Knowles leads in the entertainment field at No. 21, while Anna Wintour, Conde Nast artistic director, reigns over the media sector at No. 28.
The concept of power can be nebulous – especially when it comes to gender. As of January 2015, 10 women served as heads of state and 14 as heads of government. Women currently hold 23 (4.6%) of CEO positions at S&amp;P 500 companies. Of a total 1,826 global billionaires, 197 are women – 11% of the total. Only 9% of executive officers in Silicon Valley are women.
That these wretched stats continue year after year is a serious and pressing issue. But there’s hardly a void of powerful women – and the numbers are growing. That is, if we enlarge our focus from only those who possess the greatest wealth or the heaviest corporate hammer to include the women whose influence and impact may be greater than the sum of their titles.
The headlines remind us whenever another woman gets the top job. Examples: GM’s Mary Barra, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, IMF head Christine Lagarde. But the fact that a great many of the women on this list are not the pointy head of the pyramid –such as Facebook’s Sandberg and Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, or Gwynne Shotwell, COO of SpaceX, and Apple’s Angela Ahrendts – doesn’t dim their enormous clout. They appear on this list because they illustrate a new math– it turns out you don’t need to be No. 1 to be a Most Powerful.
The 2015 power women list features eight heads of state (plus one monarch) who run nations with a combined GDP of $9.1 trillion with over 600 million citizens –including the newly elected Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz. The 24 corporate CEOs control nearly $1 trillion in annual revenues, and 18 of the women here founded their own companies or foundations, including our youngest self-made billionaire, Elizabeth Holmes, 31. Speaking of, this year’s class has 15 billionaires with cumulative net worth of nearly $75 billion. The total social media footprint (Twitter, YouTube) of all 100 Power Women is nearly 475 million followers and fans.
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Newcomers: Nineteen are new to the list in 2015. Ana Patricia Botin, the new chair of Banco Santander, makes a strong showing at No. 18. Other names to know: Google CFO Ruth Porat, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, power pop star Taylor Swift, and top venture capitalist Jenny Lee of GGV Capital.
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Hall of Fame: Seven women who appeared on the inaugural list in 2004 are still here today: Melinda Gates, Christine Lagarde, Hillary Clinton and Indra Nooyi. Also, of course, Oprah, Queen Elizabeth II, and Ho Ching.
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She’s the first: Nearly half the women featured here are “female firsts”, such as GM’s Barra, the most world’s most powerful businesswoman, and Fed Chair Janet Yellen, the top global state banker. Drew Gilpin Faust is the first female president of Harvard, Folorunsho Alakija is the first self-made African billionaire, and Sara Blakely was the first female self-made billionaire to sign The Giving Pledge, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s bid to encourage the world’s richest to give at least half their wealth to charity. And then there’s Hillary Clinton. Her CV is chock full of firsts: The only first lady to become a U.S. senator turned secretary of state turned presidential candidate x 2. Now a 2016 candidate, bets are on that she may be the first woman elected to the Oval Office.
Women in tech: Technology takes a fourth turn as a category on the Power Women list. Out of 18 in total, seven tech women made the top 25 this year, including Sandberg, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki, IBM’s Ginni Rometty, HP’s Meg Whitman and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
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The rising tide of female entrepreneurs: A remarkable number of women are founders or owners of their own enterprises, not a few of whose eponymous companies are synonymous with high fashion. Consider Miuccia Prada, Tory Burch and Diane von Furstenberg. Other self-made self-starters include Winfrey, Alibaba’s cofounder Lucy Peng, billionaire founder-CEO Elizabeth Holmes, Chinese real estate tycoon Zhang Xin, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, India’s first biotech entrepreneur.
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Geographic diversity: More than half of the women (59) on the list are American, including immigrants such as von Furstenberg (Belgium), Ambassador Samantha Power (Ireland), Weili Dai (China), Donna Langley (UK), and Padmasree Warrior (India). Asia-Pacific citizens make the second strongest showing at 18. Latin America and the Middle East have four regionals on the list, and there are 12 Europeans and three Africans with a slot.
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The new celebrity role models: Sure, they’re famous but they deserve special attention outside their day job. Oprah founded both Harpo Productions and The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. Joining the efforts of the U.N. are Angelina Jolie, Shakira and Yao Chen, the Refugee Agency’s Goodwill Ambassador in China. Taylor Swift donated five figures to the New York City Department of Education from sales of “Welcome to New York”, and promises to continue to give as long as the song sells. Entertainers making a mint as entrepreneurs include Beyoncé and Sofia Vergara.
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Notable drop-offs: The surge in newcomers means 19 women are off the list from last year, among them Margaret Hamburg, Amy Pascal, Maria as Gracas Silva Foster, Gail Kelly, Helene Gayle, Patricia Woertz and Joyce Banda, all out of their former jobs. Celebrities Lady Gaga and Gisele Bundchen are gone, having fallen in influence/impact below the 100 line. The same is true for Chua Sock Koong, Sun Yafang, Jennifer Li, Hu Shuli and Fatima Al Jaber.

MALAWI-POLITICS-ELECTION

The Women who Lead the World

Independence celebrations in Nigeria have traditionally been marked by the Head of State urging citizens to be thankful for how far the country has come and promising new beginnings.
Now, it is also a stark reminder of lingering trouble: terrorism. The last few national celebrations have taken place in the confines of the presidential residence, instead of the traditional Eagle Square, after a bomb blast during the 2010 celebrations killed several people.
<div id="attachment_3124" style="width: 195px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3124" class="size-medium wp-image-3124" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/153160755-185x300.jpg" alt="" width="185" height="300" />Nigeria&#8217;s President Goodluck Jonathan arrives to attend the ceremony marking the country&#8217;s 52nd anniversary of independence from Britain, on October 1, 2012 in Abuja. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL WOLE</div>
This year, there will be even more reason for the day to be subdued. The Nigeria that will be celebrating its 54th anniversary will be smaller than the one that turned 50. The militant group Boko Haram, in brazen defiance of the government’s resolve to subdue it, now takes pride in seizing portions of Nigerian territory.
The insurgency shaved half a percentage point off the GDP this year, says Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In addition, the threat of the Ebola virus, which has swept through West Africa since April, has alarmed investors. From an economic point of view there is much cause for worry.
Nigeria has a history of navigating through choppy waters. A decade ago, militants in the Niger Delta were busy stoking frustrations and amassing weaponry, which they would use to cripple the oil industry that is the country&#8217;s mainstay. The force majeures that followed, combined with the global economic meltdown, left the country in a precarious position.
The country that gained its independence on October 1, 1960 – one of 18 African countries that would break free from the colonial grip that year – was a hopeful one. From the day it dawned on Nigerians, three years earlier, that that the much smaller Ghana had beaten Nigeria to freedom, enthusiasm had swelled in the then federal capital Lagos.
“This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly reached our goal,” said Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa in his Independence Day speech.
“I promise you, we shall not fail for want of determination. And we come to this task better-equipped than many.”
Barely six years later, it was all over. The republic crumbled, partly under the weight of corruption that critics say has grown worse. They claim corruption is depriving Nigerians – more than half of whom live below the poverty line – of the benefits of hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue.
While the road to independence may have been, in Balewa&#8217;s words, without bitterness nor bloodshed, the road since has been rocky. So, like several other African countries, bloodshed has defined much of Nigeria’s post-independence history. From a succession of coups to a bloody civil war, that claimed more than one million lives, and ethno-religious crises.
Added to that is the copious number of deaths from needless causes that Nigerians have long got used to: infants dying from easily treatable diseases, car crashes, petroleum pipeline spills and adulterated drugs.
Amid the gloom, however, Nigeria has never been better placed than it is now to pull off a long-awaited economic miracle. The last decade has been marked by solid growth – averaging in excess of 6%, and placing Nigeria among the fastest growing economies in the world. In April, it emerged, after a long overdue reassessment, that Nigeria, not South Africa, is Africa’s largest economy.
<div id="attachment_3126" style="width: 244px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3126" class="size-medium wp-image-3126" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/104408801-234x300.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="300" />The Duchess of KENT Katharine WORSLEY presiding over Nigeria&#8217;s independence ceremonies on October 1st, 1960. Le 1er octobre 1960, la duchesse de KENT Katharine WORSLEY préside les cérémonies d&#8217;indépendance du Nigéria.</div>
Investor confidence is strong in spite of the country’s challenges. The confidence is fed largely by a large youthful population. A large diaspora also remits around 4% of GDP annually.
A regime of relative macroeconomic stability, dating back more than a decade, also contributes to the confidence. A debt relief package obtained in 2006 freed the country from crippling interest payments, and, with a sovereign wealth fund launched in 2011, signposted the country’s intent to be taken seriously by the international community.
The biggest challenge facing the managers of the economy has been – and will continue to be – converting that abstract progress into a visible lift in the fortunes of millions of citizens.

A Gloomy And  Stark Reminder

Our annual snapshot of the 100 women with the most impact are top politicians and CEOs, activist billionaires and celebrities who matter. In roughly equal measure you’ll find next gen entrepreneurs and media mavens, technologists and leaders in philanthropy – all ranked by dollars, media momentum and impact.
We’ve selected women that go beyond the traditional taxonomy of the power elite (political and economic might). These change-agents are actually shifting our very idea of clout and authority and, in the process, transforming the world in fresh and exhilarating ways.
This year the list features nine heads of state who run nations with a combined GDP of $11.8 trillion –including the No. 1 Power Woman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The 24 corporate CEOs control $893 billion in annual revenues, and 16 of the women here founded their own companies, including two of the three new billionaires to the list, Tory Burch and Spanx’s Sara Blakely. Speaking of, this year’s class has 14 billionaires valued in excess of $82 billion.
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<h4>Here, a quick peek at Power Women 2013:</h4>
Newcomers: Among the 15 newcomers on this year’s list are South Korean President Park Geun-hye (No. 11); Lockheed Martin LMT +0.52% CEO Marillyn Hewson (No. 34); CEO Tory Burch (No. 69);  Spanx founder Sara Blakely (No. 90) and Baidu BIDU -1.28% CFO Jennifer Li (No. 98).
Old friends: At this 10th edition, attention must be paid to the 15 who appeared on the inaugural list in 2004 and are still here today:  Oprah Winfrey(No. 13), of course. Ditto for Hillary Clinton (No. 5). But there’s also  Christine Lagarde (No. 7),  Sonia Gandhi (No. 9), Indra Nooyi (No. 10), Helen Clark(No. 21), Nancy Pelosi (No. 22), Anne Sweeney (No. 24), Amy Pascal (No. 36), Queen Elizabeth II (No. 40), Abigail Johnson (No. 60),  Ho Ching (No. 64),Diane Sawyer (No. 73), J.K. Rowling (No. 93) andGreta Van Susteren (No. 97).
She’s No. 1: Chancellor Merkel has made the list eight times out of the past 10 years – seven times as No. 1.
She’s the first: Forty percent  of the women on the list are “female firsts,” such as African head of state (Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf), billionaire to sign The Giving Pledge (Sara Blakeley), and CEO at IBM (Ginni Rometty). Even more impressive are a the women who are multiple “firsts”, such as Judith Rodin, first president of an Ivy League and of the Rockefeller Foundation  and Hillary Clinton.
Hillary stays on: Clinton’s CV is chock full of firsts: The only first lady to become a U.S. senator turned viable presidential candidate turned secretary of state. Now a private citizen, she continues to be one of the most watched and listened-to women on the planet. All bets on that she will be the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and the free world’s presumptive next leader. She’s done little to quiet the chatter, including hitting the speaking circuit last month at an estimated $200,000 fee per event and inking a reported $14 million book deal.
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Tech takes a second turn as a category on the Power Women list. Five tech women made the top 25 this year, including Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg (No. 6), Rometty (No. 12) and HP’s Meg Whitman (No. 15). There are 16 tech women in total, including also Susan Wojcicki, SVP of ads at Google (No. 30) and Sun Yafang, chair of Huawei Technologies (No. 77).
in South Africa. Joining the efforts of the U.N. are Angelina Jolie (No. 37), Shakira (No. 52), and Gisele Bundchen (No. 95). Beyonce (No. 17) rules the House of Dereon and Sofia Vergara (No. 38) co-owns LatinWE.
Businesswomen are booming in Asia: The whole region makes a strong showing, from China and Singapore to New Zealand and Thailand. Entrepreneurship is on the rise: see Zhang Xin (No. 50), The rising tide of female entrepreneurs:
A remarkable number of women are founders or owners of their own enterprises, not a few of whose eponymous companies are synonymous with high fashion. Consider Miuccia Prada (No. 58), Zara founder Rosalia Mera (No. 66), Tory Burch (No. 69) andDiane von Furstenberg (No. 74). Other self-made self-starters include Oprah Winfrey (No. 13), Arianna Huffington (No. 56), Chinese real estate tycoonZhang Xin (No. 50), and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, India’s first biotech entrepreneur (No. 85).
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The new celebrity role models: Sure, they’re famous but they deserve special attention for their outside work, be it ambassadors for meaningful causes or as business owners.
Oprah founded both Harpo Productions and The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls Sun Yafang (No. 77) and Solina Chau (No. 80). And Asian region women are showing their political might, from newcomer Park Geun-hye, the South Korean president (No. 11) and Burmese dissident and parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi (No. 29) to Australian PM Julia Gillard (No. 28) and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (No. 31).
Healing, feeding and educating the world: If they’re not topping corporations or state, the women on our list are heads of major nonprofits and NGOs and they wield as large budgets and impact millions, from Melinda Gates (No. 3) and IMF chief Christine Lagarde (No. 7) to Director-General of World Health Organization Margaret Chan (No. 33), World Food ProgrammeExecutive Director Ertharin Cousin (No. 49) and Harvard University’s Drew Gilpin Faust (No. 43).
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<h4>Joyce Banda</h4>
Malawi’s first female president (and second on the African continent) spent her initial year in office pushing for rapprochement with the international donor community while grappling with spiraling inflation and an angry populace at home. With foreign aid accounting for nearly 40% of Malawi’s revenue, Banda urged global financial institutions to restore the dollars and Euros frozen during the autocratic regime of her predecessor. But her decision to devalue Malawi’s currency by 50% – to meet IMF conditions – has resulted in soaring costs for food and fuel and widespread protests. Her first 12 months were also marked by progress in decriminalizing homosexuality and major public health initiatives such as the $15 billion Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria.
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<h4>Sri Mulyani Indrawati</h4>
When Sri Mulyani Indrawati addressed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April, the Indonesian economist shared a curious insight: while high-income countries continue to suffer in the wake of the financial crisis, developing countries have come out relatively unscathed. The World Bank projects average global GDP growth of just 2.5% in 2013. Indrawati has served as managing director and the most senior woman at the World Bank since May 2010; as managing director, she oversees the World Bank’s operations in Asia and Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. After a series of deadly accidents in Bangladesh, the World Bank and the International Labor Organization have put pressure on the country to overhaul its labor laws.
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<h4>Liyuan Peng</h4>
China&#8217;s most public first lady since Madame Mao, Peng is the stylish second wife of new leader Xi Jinping. She toured with her husband during Xi&#8217;s first presidential trip abroad to Russia and Africa in March and was credited with putting a human face on the Communist regime; not for nothing, Peng is a member of the Public Diplomacy Association, an organized tasked to make China more appealing abroad. The former superstar folk singer is often joked about for being more famous than her husband: &#8220;Who is Xi Jinping? He is Peng Liyuan&#8217;s husband.&#8221; Fashion editors watch her for her (mostly) made-in-China style, but she&#8217;s also a U.N. ambassador for health and a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organization focusing on TB and HIV/AIDS.
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<h4>Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala</h4>
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One year in office after a failed bid to for the World Bank presidency, Nigeria&#8217;s Harvard-educated finance minister produced a 6.5% increase in GDP from 2011 to 2012. Nigeria is the third largest economy in Africa with nearly $50 billion in foreign reserves.
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<h4>Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf</h4>
Johnson-Sirleaf is an African icon. She is the  continent&#8217;s first female head of state, a 2011 Nobel Prize winner for her work  n the global women&#8217;s empowerment circuit.
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Tag: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

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