He credited Okonjo-Iweala for the launch of the treasury single account in the country, advising that women who excel in their various professions should be encouraged to participate in governance.
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Lazard Group’s hiring of the 61-year-old Okonjo-Iweala has also raised equally significant conflict of interest issues.
Reacting to her appointments, the former Minister said: “I am excited to be embarking on this fresh journey. GAVI has a well-earned reputation as one of the leading players in global health, providing services that underpin human and economic development”. The alliance now supports over 310 immunisation programmes in 73 of the world’s poorest countries and thus far has committed billions of dollars to help these countries strengthen their health systems.
The first of the appointments is as a senior adviser of Lazard, an global financial advisory and investment bank.
Nigeria’s Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has secured key appointments with two global bodies, her spokesman has said.
“She will bring a unique worldwide expertise and experience that will benefit both our sovereign and corporate clients”.
Lazard Ltd provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance.
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Ms Okonjo-Iweala has argued that her work on transparency and anti-corruption as finance minister under both Mr Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo has been unfairly “brushed aside”. Neither the firm nor Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that Lazard has a subsidiary known as Lazard Frères, a French investment bank that was hired by the Nigerian government as a consultant in the controversial loan forgiveness negotiations that culminated in Nigeria’s payment of close to $20 billion in loan repayments to the Paris Club in 2005. Prior to that, she served as a Managing Director at the World Bank Group for four years. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is a recipient of numerous awards.
