Oxford University honours Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is one of six people who will be awarded with honorary degrees from the University of Oxford.

Other recipients include Warren East, Sir Demis Hassabis, Sir Michael Palin, Anoushka Shankar and Professor Salim Yusuf.

They will all be awarded their honorary degrees on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.

Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian economist and the seventh Director General of the World Trade Organization.

She took office in 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to hold the position.

In 2022, Dr Okonjo-Iweala became the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s second highest honour.

She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum and co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.

Previously, the economist served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, a post she held for seven years in two terms, and also served briefly as Foreign Affairs Minister.

She is the recipient of numerous honours and in 2019 was inducted as an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.