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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

27 commentaries

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, is a former managing director at the World Bank, finance minister of Nigeria, board chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and African Union special envoy on COVID-19. She is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Global Public Leader at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.

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  1. The Trade-Finance Gap Is Holding Back Developing Economies
    okonjoiweala26 trade iStock / Getty Images Plus

    The Trade-Finance Gap Is Holding Back Developing Economies

    Dec 13, 2023 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala & Makhtar Diop consider how to get more working capital into the hands of exporters and importers in lower-income countries.

  2. Confronting the Global Water Crisis
    mazzucato52_Mario TamaGetty Images_water agriculture drought Mario Tama/Getty Images

    Confronting the Global Water Crisis

    Mar 17, 2023 Mariana Mazzucato, et al. offer a seven-point blueprint for preserving one of the planet’s most important natural systems.

  3. Fixing the Food Trade
    okonjoiweala24_Sjoerd van der WalGetty Images_agriculture trade Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

    Fixing the Food Trade

    Oct 21, 2022 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala touts a more holistic approach that aligns policies with a stronger base of evidence about what works.

  4. The Trade Agenda Today
    op_okonjoiweala2_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_ngoziokonjoiweala Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    The Trade Agenda Today

    Sep 30, 2022 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala interviewed by Anne O. Krueger about the challenges facing her organization.

  5. Transforming the Economics and Governance of Water
    mazzucato41_AAMIR QURESHIAFP via Getty Images_pakistan flooding AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

    Transforming the Economics and Governance of Water

    Sep 21, 2022 Mariana Mazzucato, et al. call for new thinking about an issue that lies behind all of the world’s biggest collective challenges.

  1. stiglitz331_serggnGetty Images_techregulation serggn/Getty Images

    A Big Defeat for Big Tech

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Tech companies know that if there is an open, democratic debate about data security, consumers’ concerns about digital safeguards will win out. And while the industry's lobbyists tried to ensure that no such debate could ever occur, one of their more cynical moves has now been exposed and thwarted.

    details how the industry tried to slip extraordinary protections against regulation into US trade agreements.
  2. zizek27_Giles ClarkeGetty Images_jimmycherizier Giles Clarke/Getty Images

    Haiti’s Proud Boys

    Slavoj Žižek

    If we measure a failed state by the cracks in the edifice of its power, reflected in brewing ideological civil wars, deadlocked assemblies, and increasingly insecure public spaces, we must recognize that the United States is not so unlike Haiti. Both have given rise to violent gangs with political ambitions.

    warns that rich Western democracies are not immune to politically motivated gang violence.
  3. hedegaard11_y Dursun AydemirAnadolu via Getty Images_parliament elections Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images

    Unity Is Europe’s Greatest Asset

    Connie Hedegaard emphasizes the importance of stability amid persistent economic and geopolitical crises.
  4. qian34_PEDRO PARDOAFP via Getty Images_immigration PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

    The Truth About US Immigration

    Nancy Qian warns that overheated campaign-season rhetoric is dangerously polarizing and ultimately self-defeating.
  5. mueller51_ David McNewGetty Images_gop trump David McNew/Getty Images

    The Zombification of Political Parties

    Jan-Werner Mueller argues that Donald Trump’s capture of the GOP’s organizational machinery recalls authoritarian tactics elsewhere.
  6. basu100_David Dee DelgadoGetty Images_newyork David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    The Economic Consequences of Legal Behavior

    Kaushik Basu highlights the potential benefits of emphasizing adherence to the spirit of laws, if not their letter.
  7. brown106_KOLA SULAIMONAFP via Getty Images_nigeriaschool Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images

    For Nigeria’s Schools, Safety Must Come First

    Gordon Brown writes that the latest mass abduction of students underscores the dilemma facing parents throughout the country.
  8. owoo1_disabled iStock / Getty Images Plus

    Give Women with Disabilities a Chance

    Nkechi S. Owoo explains what is needed to protect and empower one of the world’s most vulnerable demographic groups.
  9. op_mkurz3_Spencer PlattGetty Images_rustbelt Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    How Capitalism Became a Threat to Democracy

    Mordecai Kurz examines the economic policies and market dynamics that have ushered in America's Second Gilded Age.

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