The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been named one of 100 Global Thinkers by the iconic Washington-based journal, Foreign Policy.
Paul Nwabuikwu, Special Assistant on Communication to the minister, said Okonjo-Iweala was honoured alongside a group of distinguished activists, political leaders, diplomats and entrepreneurs from across the world.
Some of them are: US President, Barack Obama; French President, Nicholas Sarkozy; British Prime Minister, David Cameron; former American President, Bill Clinton; and Brazilian President, Dilma Roussef.
Other recipients include the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Nobel laureates for Economics Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman; and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei.
According to the citation published in the current edition of the journal, Okonjo-Iweala was recognised for her role as a champion of continental economic renaissance who has contributed significantly to putting Africa on the centre stage of global economic focus.
It also cited her focus on creating jobs and reducing the country's debt burden "despite the slump in the global economy and considerable challenges at home, including entrenched corruption and a string of terrorist attacks".
The citation recalled that as Managing Director of the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala pushed innovative initiatives like "Diaspora Bonds" which allowed immigrants in the West to invest in their home countries.
Responding to the news of the honour, Okonjo-Iweala dedicated the award to those Nigerian women who, "in spite of the many obstacles they face in a very challenging environment, are still doing their best to realise the Nigeria of their dreams".
She said that the reference by Foreign Policy to her contributions on job creation is a vindication of President Goodluck Jonathan's vision to make employment generation the number one economic priority of the country.
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