Okonjo Iweala awarded African Finance Minister of the Year.

Okonjo Iweala flanked by another award recipient Bob Diamond(CEO Atlas Merchant Capital)

The Nigerian Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has on Friday bagged the African Finance Minister of the Year 2014 Award. The award came as a recognition for her outstanding performance as Nigeria's Finance Minister, presented by the African Investor Magazine.

Amongst the list Okonjo Iweala emerged as a winner of the award, are Finance Ministers of Kenya, Angola, Rwanda, Liberia, Zambia, Seychelles and the Kingdom of Morocco.

In her acceptance speech, she thanked the organizers and described the award as an honour.  She also called on all investors in Africa to join hands to fight the Ebola scourge in Africa. In her words;

“What is happening in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra-Leone and the success we had in Nigeria and Senegal in containing this virus should not be allowed to set Africa back. “You as private sector and friends of Africa need to send the message that we should not be so afraid of Ebola that we stigmatise the whole continent.

“I think that it is only with your own leadership, as African investors, that the rest of the world can see which way they should pass. So, I am really urging you to be ambassadors to the continent,” She also reiterated about how the African leaders should sustain the successes recorded in the past. 

“We are not shying away from these challenges but the turning point now is that we are in the continent where we have the political will and confidence to tackle these challenges.

“I think that we as Africans must always take the lead because if we don’t solve our problems, nobody can do it for us.”