TheCable

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former minister of finance, has been appointed as a member of an external advisory group of Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Okonjo-Iweala was recently announced as a member of South Africa’s presidential economic advisory council.

In a statement announcing the appointment, Georgieva said the group will meet a few times a year to provide perspectives on key developments and policy issues.

“Even before the spread of COVID-19 and the dramatic health, economic, and financial disruptions it has brought, IMF members confronted a rapidly evolving world and complex policy issues,” Georgieva said.

“To serve our membership well in this context, we need top-notch input and expertise from the widest range of sources, inside and outside the Fund.

“Toward this end, I am proud that an exceptional and diverse group of eminent individuals with high-level policy, market, and private sector experience has agreed to serve on my External Advisory Group. Today we had a dynamic discussion to gain their insights, and to receive informal reactions to our ideas and approaches.”

Members of the group were listed as:

• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former finance minister of Nigeria
• Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister of Singapore and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
• Kristin Forbes, professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia
• Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations deputy secretary-general
• Feike Sijbesima, honorary chair, DSM and former CEO, Royal DSM
• Raghuram Rajan, professor at University of Chicago
• Ana Botín, group executive chairman of Santander
• Carmen Reinhart, professor at Harvard University
• Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser of Allianz
• Scott Minerd, chief investment officer of Guggenheim Investments
• Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, chair of ActionAid International