Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - Why I'm Joining the Bill Gates Foundation

Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday, expressed joy over her new job to join the board of Gavi, (a $12 Billion Multilateral Public-Private Partnership on Vaccines) the Vaccine Alliance, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates.

Okonjo-Iweala who has spent the past three decades working on fiscal management and governance systems in Africa through 25 years at the World Bank, most recently as a managing director, and twice as finance minister in what is now the African continent’s biggest economy, also announced that she will also be joining US Investment Bank, Lazard’s Sovereign Advice Division.

She tweeted via her Twitter handle @NOIweala and said: 

"I’m excited to join GAVI to immunize 300 million more children in the next five years and save 5 million to 6 million more lives."

It can be recalled that she has recently came under criticisms particularly by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, over issues bordering on alleged corruption in the last administration.

Below is an official statement released by her Media Adviser, Paul C Nwabuikwu on her latest appointments;

Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has accepted two key international positions.
The first is to serve as Chair of the 28-member Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, GAVI, (http://www.gavi.org/about/), an international public-private partnership committed to saving the lives of children and protecting people’s health by improving access to immunization in developing countries, including Nigeria.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala was elected to the position after a competitive international search process.
GAVI is a $12 billion multilateral partnership which disburses grants of upwards of $1.8 billion annually to developing countries for immunization programmes. GAVI brings together developing countries and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialized and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists.
GAVI is funded by governments of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, the State of Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States as well as the European Commission, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and other institutional and corporate partners.
It will be recalled that, from 2000-2015, GAVI disbursed $425m in grants to Nigeria, an average of about $30m per annum for vaccination and immunization of children, including polio vaccines.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala succeeds Dagfinn Høybråten, a former Norwegian Minister of Health and current Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers as Chair of GAVI.
Previous Chairs include Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and respected education activist and former First Lady of South Africa, Graca Machel.

In the second appointment, the former Managing Director of the World Bank has also joined the highly respected 167-year-old global investment firm, Lazard (https://www.lazard.com/) as Senior Advisor. Her focus will be sovereign advisory.
“We are proud to welcome Dr. Okonjo-Iweala as a Senior Advisor to our world-leading sovereign advisory group,” said Matthieu Pigasse, Global Head of M&A and Sovereign Advisory of Lazard. “She will bring a unique international expertise and experience that will benefit both our sovereign and corporate clients.”
At Lazard, Dr Okonjo-Iweala will work alongside colleagues including former Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keating; former Special adviser to President Bill Clinton, Vernon Jordan; former Spanish Economy Minister and current Snr Managing Director at Lazard, Rodrigo de Rato; former chair of NASDAQ, Frank Zarb; former Finance Minister of Chile, Andres Velasco; and former British Minister of Parliament/Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell.
In her reaction to the two appointments, Dr Okonjo-Iweala who will be working out of Paris, Geneva and London said: “I am excited to be embarking on this fresh journey. The two appointments will enable me to continue doing what I know best - rendering public service and using my financial and economist skills. I thank the international community for the recognition and continued support. I am also grateful for the prayers and support of many Nigerians”.
For more details, please check the GAVI and Lazard websites. Thank you.

Paul C Nwabuikwu

Media Adviser to Dr Okonjo-Iweala

Abuja, September 21, 2015

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