USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Joins CGD

10/27/15

Nancy Birdsall

Global Development: Views from the Center

Debt Relief

It's been almost 10 years since I sat down for coffee with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Davos. A former World Bank VP and then Nigeria's finance minister, she was looking for assistance in what became, 15 months later, a $30 billion debt reduction deal with Nigeria's bilateral creditors. I'm proud that CGD played a role in securing a deal; forgiving the debt of an oil-rich country burdened by corruption was controversial and complicated (see Todd Moss's April 2006 blog post here). A first step was more political than financial: persuading Nigeria's creditors in Europe that Nigeria was eligible for IDA status. At that and every subsequent step during two rounds as finance minister (including managing a reduction in Nigeria's regressive fuel subsidies), Minister Okonjo-Iweala's contribution has been fundamental in her own country's struggle to become a better economy and democracy.

In the meantime, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has served as vice president and then managing director under the last three presidents of the World Bank, and in 2012 was a candidate for the presidency at the World Bank.

So it is a thrill for me that Ngozi is now joining CGD as a distinguished visiting fellow. In the immediate future she will be working on the challenge of deepening and broadening financial services (credit, savings, insurance) for the world's small farmers, bringing her own extraordinary experience and economic savvy to that tough issue.

Welcome Ngozi!

 

Updated 10/27/2015

http://www.cgdev.org/blog/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-joins-cgd

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