Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s Continued Rise: Honors, Recognition and Leadership
In our previous post, we explored Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s groundbreaking appointment as the first African and female Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a pivotal moment in her career. This post will capture all her other achievements that could not be captioned in subsequent posts.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has continued to build on her legacy, earning global recognition and accumulating an array of prestigious awards and honors. In 2019, she was inducted as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the most prestigious honors in the academic and professional world. Her name as also appeared in the Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers in both 2011 and 2012, acknowledging her impactful contributions to global development. She was also ranked by Fortune as one of the 50 Greatest World Leaders in 2015.
Her influence does not end there. Dr. Ngozi was named in both 2014 and 2021 one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, even gracing the cover page of the magazine in 2021. In addition, she was included by the Financial Times in their 25 Most Influential Women in the World, highlighting her role as a driving force in shaping global policies. In 2022, she was named one of Condé Nast International’s 73 Brilliant Business Influencers in the world and received the Alumnae Recognition Award from the American Association of University Women. Her influence is so far-reaching that Forbes has named her one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women six times, and in 2020, she was honored as Forbes African of the Year.
Her collection of international accolades continues to grow, with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala receiving the Lord Byron International Prize from the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism in 2023, the Global Economy Prize from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the 2022 Laureate Prize from the International Organization of La Francophonie. She has also earned several leadership awards, including the Global Leadership Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 2022 and the Global Leadership Award from the United Nations Foundation in 2021.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership extends far beyond her role at the World Trade Organization (WTO). She serves on a variety of high-level boards and advisory councils that address some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. She is a board member of the World Economic Forum, and she co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water and the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, alongside prominent figures such as Lord Nicholas Stern and Mr. Paul Polman. In addition, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala chairs the Board of the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja. She presently serves in numerous advisory roles, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Oxford University Martin School Advisory Council, Mercy Corps International Advisory Board, the International Commission on Financing Global Education (Chaired by Gordon Brown).
She also contributes her expertise to global organizations like the Tsinghua University Beijing — School of Public Policy and Management Global Advisory Board, the CARICOM (Caribbean) Commission on the Economy, and the Bloomberg Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health, among others. Her participation in these groups reinforces her commitment to fostering global economic growth, sustainable development, and equitable access to resources. She is also a member of the G30 Group of Top 30 People in International Finance and the council of the Prince of Wales’s initiative Earthshot Prize and an inaugural board member of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Foundation.
Throughout the years, Dr. Ngozi has continued to contribute to academia and the development sector. In addition to her role as a Distinguished Fellow at prominent think tanks such as the Center for Global Development and the Brookings Institution, she has been recognized with numerous honorary degrees from leading institutions, including Yale University, Brown University, and Tel Aviv University. She is also the recipient of Nigeria’s second highest National Honor Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) in 2022. She has been awarded national honours by the government of the Republic of Liberia and from the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire in 2016. She also received the Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco from the Federative Republic of Brazil in 2023.
In 2020, she became an Angelopoulos Global Public Leader at Harvard University Kennedy School. She was also appointed to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) for President of South Africa His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020. In 2017, she received the Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Award from the Aspen Institute, the Women’s Economic Empowerment Award from WEConnect International, and the Vanguard Award from Howard University. In 2016, she received the Power with Purpose Award from the Devex Development Communications Network and the Global Fairness Award from the Global Fairness Initiative in recognition of her contribution to sustainable development. She was also conferred High National Honours from the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Liberia.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership and economic expertise have also found their way into various academic publications. She is the author of several books, including Reforming the UnReformable: Lessons from Nigeria, (MIT Press, 2012), Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines (MIT Press, 2018), The Debt Trap in Nigeria: Towards a Sustainable Debt Strategy (Africa World Press, 2003), and Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons co-authored with Julia Gillard (Penguin Random House, July 2020). Her publications cover a wide range of topics, including multilateralism, sustainable development, and financial inclusion, showcasing her deep understanding of global economic systems and her passion for effecting positive change.
She has also published numerous articles, including Rethinking Multilateralism for a Pandemic Era (Finance and Development Magazine, 2021), Nigeria’s Shot at Redemption (Finance and Development Magazine, 2008), Mobilizing Finance for Education in the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Education Report 2019), and Shine a Light on the Gaps — an essay on financial inclusion for African Small Holder Farmers (Foreign Affairs, 2015).
In her quest to address the challenges facing Africa and the world at large, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala founded NOI-Polls, Nigeria’s first ever indigenous opinion-research organization. This initiative aims to provide critical insights into the Nigerian populace, enabling more informed decision-making at national and international levels. Additionally, she founded the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa (C-SEA), a development research think tank focused on fostering sustainable economic growth in Africa.
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