Okonjo-Iweala not head of South Africa Economic Advisory Council – Aide

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is not the head of South Africa Economic Advisory Council, her aide has said.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala was reported by some news platforms (not Qed.ng) to have been appointed head of the council by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa.

The former World Bank executive on Friday attended the council’s meeting in Tshwane, the northern metropolitan Gauteng Province of Pretoria.

Okonjo-Iweala’s spokesman, Paul Nwabuikwu, however, said in a post on Facebook on Saturday that the former minister was appointed member of the council, not its head.

“Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a member, NOT head, of the international team of policy and business experts that make up the South Africa Economic Advisory Council,” Mr. Nwabuikwu said.

According to Okonjo-Iweala in a tweet on Saturday, she attended the meeting alongside Mr Ramaphosa, addressing issues on the country’s economy.

“With President Ramaphosa, members of cabinet, and members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council in Pretoria discussing sources of growth for the South African economy and win-win economic interactions with the continent,” the tweet read.

Mr. Ramaphosa, whose country’s economy is facing a recession, appointed Okonjo-Iweala into his advisory team to turn the nation’s dwindling economy around.