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Ngozi Okonjo Iweala: The Woman Who has the Power to Change Africa
Abstract
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a heroine not just of Nigeria, where she is Finance Minister, but of the entire continent. Her crusade against corruption has put her life at risk.
The Finance Minister is fulsome in her apologies. “Sorry, it's my first day back in the country and I had to go and see the President. Even so, I do apologise for keeping you waiting.” It is an interesting example of the priorities of Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the woman who has been in charge of the finances of Nigeria for the past three years. First she spends more than a week at IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, then she briefs her boss, but next she sets aside a couple of hours from a “crazy schedule” to talk to someone from the foreign press. Getting the message out about the change in Africa's most populous nation is pretty high on her “to do” list just now.
The Finance Minister is fulsome in her apologies. “Sorry, it's my first day back in the country and I had to go and see the President. Even so, I do apologise for keeping you waiting.” It is an interesting example of the priorities of Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the woman who has been in charge of the finances of Nigeria for the past three years. First she spends more than a week at IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, then she briefs her boss, but next she sets aside a couple of hours from a “crazy schedule” to talk to someone from the foreign press. Getting the message out about the change in Africa's most populous nation is pretty high on her “to do” list just now.
JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies. ISSN: 1530-5686 (online).
Editors: Nkiru Nzegwu; Book Editor: Mary Dillard.
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