See Africa Differently 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has had an amazing life by anyone’s standards. The daughter of Nigerian professors, she was just 14 when civil war broke out in her home country. During the war, Ngozi’s family lost everything, often having little to eat. When her three year-old sister became chronically ill with malaria, her father was away with the army and her mother was ill, so she carried her for three miles to find the emergency treatment that would save her life.

At the age of 18, when the war was over, Ngozi went to the US to study Economics, began working at the World Bank, and married her childhood sweetheart, with whom she has four children.

In 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo recognised Ngozi’s potential, plucked her out of the World Bank and made her his Finance Minister, making her the first woman to hold the position. In October 2005, she led a team that struck a deal to write-off Nigeria’s £18 billion of external debt. During her three years of office she worked tirelessly to combat corruption and introduced reforms that would open up the economy to foreign investment.

Ngozi returned to the World Bank in 2007, this time at the very senior level of Managing Director. She continues to work there today.

In 2005, when she was asked what made her take up the very challenging role of Finance Minister when she had children to look after, Ngozi said: “I felt Nigeria didn't have to succumb to the image of being a corrupt country, we didn't have to let the economy stagnate." It’s attitudes like hers, that are helping African countries put the past behind and build a brighter future.