AFRICAN Of The Year

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA IS WELL-POSITIONED TO TAKE ON THE NEXT BIG ROLE, TRANSFORMING AFRICA AND NEGOTIATING ON THE WORLD STAGE.

- PEACE HYDE

ABOUT 17 YEARS AGO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala challenged Nigeria’s patriarchy by becoming the longest-serving finance minister, the first foreign minister and most importantly, the first woman to ever hold those positions.

Today, she is on the brink of yet another first, as one of two final contenders for the top post as the seventh DirectorGeneral of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a position which will make Okonjo-Iweala the first African and once again the first woman to lead the prestigious international trade body.

Okonjo-Iweala has the largest support, from the group’s 164 members across all geographies; this was following a grueling five-month competitive vetting process that began with eight candidates.

The final decision is still awaited and could come anytime. But hurdles are nothing new for Okonjo-Iweala. As Nigeria’s finance minister, serving two terms under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan, Okonjo-Iweala has had to slay her fair share of goliaths in an illustrious career that has spanned over 40 years.

She recounts one particular incident, which she admits as the most traumatic in her life.

“My mother was kidnapped and held for five days when I was finance minister. The [kidnappers] thought that killing me would be too merciful and wanted to paralyze me for the rest of my life. When you are fighting powerful people who are corrupt, they fight back in very dangerous ways,” says Okonjo-Iweala in an interview with FORBES AFRICA in November, from Washington DC.