A former Nigerian Minister of Finance and a candidate for the office of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been named Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2020.
Forbes Africa announced this on Tuesday via a post on its official handle @forbesafrica.
“The 2020 #AfricanOftheYear Award honoree is…Congratulations to Dr. @NOlweala! Board Chair @Gavi; Board Chair @ARCapicity, gracing the cover of @forbesafrica,” local media report on Wednesday quoted her as saying in the tweet.
It added that Okonjo-Iweala in response said that she was thrilled to be honoured and to be following the footsteps of her brothers, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina.
“Thrilled to be named @forbesafrica-CNBC 2020 African of the Year following in the footsteps of my great Brothers @PaulKagame and @akin_adesina,” the 66-year-old economist said.
Okonjo-Iweala dedicated the award to fellow Africans facing the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This award is for fellow Africans suffering the health and economic impact of Covid19. The energy and resilience of Africans inspire me,” she added.
GIK/APA