Goodluck poaches World Bank Director for Nigeria Finance Ministry

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has poached former Nigerian Finance Minister who has been working at the World Bank to manage the country’s economy again.

The World Bank has announced in a press release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, that its Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be leaving the Bank to return to Nigeria to take up a senior post as Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance in the new government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The release said the World Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick, made the announcement on July 8, 2011, indicating that Okonjo-Iweala will leave office in mid-August 2011.

Mr Zoellick said “Ngozi’s contribution as Managing Director has been stellar. Her desire to serve her country is truly a big loss for the World Bank but a major gain for Nigeria as it works to craft its economic way forward.”

“In her time as Managing Director, Ngozi has proven her determination and enormous capacity to work in the interests of poor people in developing countries around the globe”, he added.

According to the Bank, she helped raise a record $49.3 billion for the International Development Association (IDA) to fund the world’s poorest countries.

Prior to accepting the position of Managing Director at the World Bank is 2007, Okonjo-Iweala was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

She served as Finance Minister of Nigeria from July 2003 to June 2006 and spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club of Creditors in 2005 that led to the wiping out of $30 billion of Nigeria’s external debt, including outright cancellation of $18 billion.

Okonjo-Iweala was also one-time a Foreign Affairs Minister of Nigeria.

By Ekow Quandzie