Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been named African Finance Minister of the year by the African Investor Magazine.
The minister received the award on the sideline of the ongoing annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, as she was lauded for her outstanding performance as the minister in charge of government finances, economic policy and financial .
Okonjo-Iweala, while thanking the African Investor Magazine for the honour, called on investors in the continent to join the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that has brought economies in some West African countries to their feet.
“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.
Okonjo-Iweala also said that in spite of the challenges faced by Africa, including infrastructure, poor education system, governance, corruption, employment, among others, its 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,” she said.
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