Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

About Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (, Igbo pronunciation: [ŋ́gɔ́zí òkóꜜńdʒó ìwáàːlà] ; born 13 June 1954) is a Nigerian economist who has been serving as the director-general of the World Trade Organization since March 2021. She is the first ever woman and also the first African to lead the World Trade Organization as director-general. She was previously on the boards of Danone, Standard Chartered Bank, MINDS: Mandela Institute for Development Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, One Campaign, GAVI: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Rockefeller Foundation, R4D: Results for Development, ARC: African Risk Capacity and Earthshot Prize plus others. She also previously sat on the Twitter Board of Directors, and stepped down in February 2021 in connection with her appointment as director-general of the World Trade Organization. Okonjo-Iweala serves at the Brookings Institution as a non-resident distinguished fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in their Global Economy and Development Program. She is a Commissioner Emeritus and Co-Chair of Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.