WORLD Trade Organisation Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has celebrated her recognition on Forbes’ 2025 list of the 100 World’s Most Powerful Women, marking the eighth time she has been named among the global power elite.
In a post shared on her verified X account on Thursday, December 11, Okonjo-Iweala appreciated Forbes for the honour and noted that such recognition came with greater sense of duty and responsibility.
“Nice to make (for the eighth time) the @Forbes List of the 100 most powerful women of the world 2025 and to be on the cover of the magazine. With power comes responsibility! We are doing our best to fight for and reform the rules-based multilateral trading system, which the world needs to avoid a chaotic approach to world trade that would hurt the smallest and the least powerful countries,” she wrote.
The WTO DG also extended her appreciation to the other African women featured on the list, including Namibia’s President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Prime Minister, Suminwa Judith, Bidvest Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mpumi Madisa, EbonyLife Group CEO Mo Abudu, and Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley.
The ICIR reports that Okonjo-Iweala, ranked 92nd on the annual Forbes list that recognises women who hold significant influence in business, politics, culture, and global leadership.
Forbes described her as “an economist and international development professional” with over 30 years of experience across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America.
The 71-year-old born, in Ogwashi-Ukwu in Delta State, is the first woman and first African to serve as WTO Director-General, a position she assumed in March 2021.
Okonjo-Iweala contested against seven other big profile candidates from Africa, Europe, the Middle-East, North America, and Asia, and after the initial selection processes, the WTO selected her and Yoo Myung-hee of Korea’s Republic for the third and final stage.
On October 28 2020, Okonjo-Iweala was selected by the Walker-led WTO General Council as the organisation’s next DG and was confirmed on Monday, 15 February 2021, to serve from 1 March until 31 August 2025 when she might renew her tenure.
She previously served two terms as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, briefly held the position of Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006, and chaired the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has helped vaccinate over 760 million children worldwide.
Okonjo-Iweala earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is widely respected for her steadfast belief that trade can drive developing countries out of poverty and advance sustainable development.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.