Ramaphosa appoints Okonjo-Iweala as a special envoy

Bloemfontein, South Africa – President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has appointed ex-Nigerian Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and others including Dr Donald Kaberuka, Mr Tidjane Thiam and Mr Trevor Manuel as Special Envoys of the African Union.

Ramaphosa, who is the current Chairperson of the African Union, gave the appointees the mandate to mobilise international support to address the economic challenges African countries will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to this new appointment, Okonjo-Iweala was already appointed on a three-year term, as a member of the Economic Advisory Council for South Africa by Ramaphosa in March. The aim of her appointment is to help give South Africa a coherent economic policy.

In addition to Dr Okonjo-Iweala, other appointees include Dr Kaberuka, an economist and former President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank, and Mr Manuel, the longest-serving Minister of Finance in South Africa and the former chairman of the country’s National Planning Commission. Also appointed was Mr Tidjane Thiam, a French-Ivorian banker who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse from March 2015 to February 2020. He was the chief financial officer of British banking group Prudential from 2007 to 2009, and then its CEO until 2013.