Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to step down from Standard Chartered BoD
Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) today announced changes to its Board of Directors. The company has welcomed the appointment of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, an independent non-executive director of the company since 2017, as the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). As a result of her appointment, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will step down from the Board with effect from February 28, 2021.
José Viñals, Group Chairman said:
“Ngozi has made valuable contributions to the Board over the past three years and we have been very fortunate to have the benefit of her extensive experience in development economics, sustainable finance and governance. As a bank dedicated to promoting global trade, we hope and believe she will achieve great things at the WTO and wish her all the best in her new role.”
A development economist, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent 25 years working at the World Bank in various positions. After leaving in 2003, she served as the Finance Minister of Nigeria from 2003 to 2006.
She returned to the World Bank in 2007, serving as a Managing Director until 2011, when she was appointed to the role of Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy in the Nigerian government, a position she held until 2015. During her time in government she spearheaded Nigeria’s successful program to obtain debt relief and is credited with developing reforms that helped improve governmental transparency to stabilise and grow the Nigerian economy.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is an independent director of Twitter, Inc and Chair of GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations. She also holds a number of prestigious international advisory positions including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and holds advisory panel and chair positions at a range of global institutions, including charitable foundations, non-governmental organisations and intergovernmental organisations.
She chairs the African Risk Capacity, a weather based insurance organisation of the African Union. She is a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group reviewing Global Financial Governance and is an ambassador of the Open Government Partnership.