Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nancy Pelosi, 23 others among global influential women of 2021

*The Financial Times (FT) describes the special publication on the 25 ‘Women of the Year’ as ‘a celebration and lens’ through which to understand the dynamic nature of leadership and power across continents, industries and issues, and how all of the remarkable women have shaped ‘this tumultuous year 2021’

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

The Financial Times (FT) of London says the annual ‘Women of the Year’ has long celebrated achievements and influence exerted by topflight women as global brands.

According to FT, with the same objective in mind, the publication has expanded the list for 2021 and asked some of the most influential women in the world to write the entries, including Jane Fraser, Christine Lagarde, Elizabeth Warren, Billie Jean King, Malala Yousafzai,  Jane Fraser and Greta Thunberg.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of WTO

ConsumerConnect gathered among the 25 celebrated women of the year across the world are Nigerian-born Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is currently the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland; Lina Khan, Chair of Federal Trade Commission (TFC), in the United States (US); Mary Barra, Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Motors (GM); and Gita Gopinath, Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Others include Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in the Congress; Tsai Ing-Wen, President of Taiwan; and young Naomi Osaka, a world-class athlete.

According to FT, ‘Women of the Year’ is a celebration, of course. But it is also a lens through which to understand the dynamic nature of leadership and power.

To ask “Who was influential in 2021?”, you must grapple with “What is influence?” and “How is it changing?”

“We put the list together in collaboration with FT journalists from dozens of international bureaus, former women of the year, and readers like you,” it noted.

FT also stated that across continents, industries and issues, all of these remarkable women have shaped this tumultuous year 2021.

Each of them is sure to help shape the better ones to come in the global arena, it said.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of WTO, by Christine Lagarde

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is as fierce and talented a competitor as she is a caring friend, and it came as no surprise to me when she was appointed to the helm of the WTO in March this year.

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives

With the pandemic disrupting an international trade network that was already being challenged by rising protectionism, and with vaccine nationalism a major threat to the global economy, the world needed a strong leader.

I have known Ngozi since 2005 and have seen her work tirelessly as a seasoned negotiator and crisis manager.

Her 25 years at the World Bank demonstrated her resolve, including her handling of the food and financial crisis of 2008-09 and her determination to recover stolen assets.

She has shattered glass ceilings with her complete competence, absolute integrity and good humour, becoming the first female Finance Minister and Foreign Minister in Nigeria, where she implemented tough reforms to enhance the transparency of the country’s public finances, and is the first woman and first African to lead the WTO.

Ngozi is a force to be reckoned with.

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, US House of Representatives, by Rana Foroohar

The country’s first woman, first Californian and first Italian-American to become Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi is, at 81, a unique figure in American politics.

She has brought her unique talents as a self-defined “master negotiator” to deliver for President Joe Biden his major legislative victories on the $1.9tn COVID-19 relief package and, now, the $1tn infrastructure bill.

Next up: pushing Biden’s $2.2tn Build Back Better initiative, which has just cleared Pelosi’s House, through the Senate.

That wouldn’t normally be her job, but she almost alone has been able to bridge her party’s daunting divide between House progressives and key Senate centrists like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin III.

How? A safe-cracker’s touch. She recently sent to Manchin a private message literally on a silver platter — one given to her by her good friend, the late West Virginia senator Robert C Byrd, a hero of Manchin’s.

“I thought he should see it,” she chuckled.

Naomi Osaka, athlete, businesswoman and advocate for racial justice, by Billie Jean King

Sports are a microcosm of society.

Naomi Osaka, athlete and advocate for racial justice

We have seen this concept play out in real time recently with Naomi Osaka’s important effort to spotlight the mental health challenges that people from all walks of life face daily.

Naomi is one of the most successful businesswomen in sports, an advocate for racial justice and she transcends sports — most recently by using her platform to prioritise health and wellbeing.

In doing so, she has inspired individuals around the world and ignited a conversation about mental health that applies not only to athletes but to all human beings.

So often athletes have a persona, a brand and an image that they feel forced to uphold. Naomi is charting her own path and being celebrated for showing us that “it’s OK to not be OK”.

She is a true champion in sport and in life.

For full report on the Women of the Year 2021, please click HERE.

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