𝗡𝗚𝗢𝗭𝗜 𝗢𝗞𝗢𝗡𝗝𝗢-𝗜𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗔; 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗼 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝗧𝗢)

𝗡𝗴𝗼𝘇𝗶 𝗢𝗸𝗼𝗻𝗷𝗼-𝗜𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮, (born June 13, 1954, Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Nigeria), Nigerian-American economist who served as the seventh director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2021. She was the first woman and the first African to head the WTO.

She studied at Nigeria’s oldest girls’ secondary school and traveled to the U.S. to study at Harvard University as a teenager (1973). She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a bachelor’s in economics (1976) and later earned her Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1981.

After receiving her doctoral degree, 𝗢𝗸𝗼𝗻𝗷𝗼-𝗜𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮 served for twenty-five years in the World Bank where she rose to the number two position as managing director of operations. In that post, she supervised development projects and portfolios in Europe, Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia.

𝗢𝗸𝗼𝗻𝗷𝗼-𝗜𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮 made history in Nigeria after being appointed the first woman and longest-serving Finance Minister of Nigeria. She was first appointed by President Olusegun Obasanjo (2003-2006) and again by President Goodluck Jonathan (2011-2015). She also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between her two terms.

In 2005, she led negotiations with the Paris Club, an assembly of the world’s most developed nations, which led to the restructuring of 30 billion dollars of external debt owned by Nigeria as well as the outright cancellation of 18 billion dollars of debt.

𝗢𝗸𝗼𝗻𝗷𝗼-𝗜𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮 is the seventh Director-General of the World Trade Organization. In her position, she is a spokesperson for the WTO and is instrumental in facilitating trade negotiations and settling disputes between member nations. Her term of office will end on August 31, 2025.

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