Children in the poorest countries typically receive new vaccines a decade later than those in the richest.

It doesn't have to be this way. With innovative financing, we can level the playing field: http://ow.ly/PvR230gtMWG

#StopPneumonia #WorldPneumoniaDay

In Seoul, discussing South Korea's remarkable economic progress with two icons, HE Ban Ki-Moon former UN Secretary-General and HE Dr. Han Seung-Soo former Prime Minister Republic of Korea.

So much to learn from South Korea's experience with human capital development, job creation, and economic and social development.

Visiting Samsung Digital City in Suwon, South Korea. Inspiring!

Discussing the power of technology in action, including digitized payment systems, and contactless card payments in use with smart phones that can greatly facilitate financial inclusion in our emerging markets and developing countries.

Let's get all our citizens biometric national IDs with chips and contactless payment features so we can include our marginalized citizens not normally included.

Discussing Leadership issues with Women Leaders and one good man! CEO Standard Chartered Tanzania, Sanjay Rughani in Dar es Salaam: And discussing SDGs partnerships for implementation with UN Resident Coordinator Tanzania, Mr Alvaro Rodriguez and Stancharts’s own Juanita Mwramba

Speaking to the more than 1000 strong group of participants at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen with Gabriela Ramos G20 Sherpa of the OECD, Beverley McLachlin former Chief Justice of Canada and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO World Bank.

Thanks to Transparency International and the government of Denmark for inviting me to the conference to share lessons learned in fighting corruption including from my book, “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous”

Discussing economic development at Harvard Business School,including lessons from my book “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous”; surrounded by bright, talented [img]African [/img]students from Harvard Business and Harvard Kennedy Schools.

The Eminent Persons Group (EPG), appointed by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to recommend reforms to the global financial architecture and governance of the system of international financial institutions released its report on October 11 to the G20 Finance Ministers in Bali, on the margins of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

Proud to have been part of this effort! Please see the link below!

https://www.globalfinancialgovernance.org/

The Eminent Persons Group (EPG), appointed by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to recommend reforms to the global financial architecture and governance of the system of international financial institutions released its report on October 11 to the G20 Finance Ministers in Bali, on the margins of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

Proud to have been part of this effort! Please see the link below!

https://www.globalfinancialgovernance.org/

Listening to President Joko Widodo of Indonesia at the Blended Finance Forum on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF meetings in Bali Indonesia.

And launching Indonesia's Low Carbon Development Plan, one of the first for emerging market countries, with Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, former Vice President Boediono, former Minister of Trade Mari Pangestu and colleagues from the Global Commission on Economy and Climate.

Resource-rich emerging market countries like Nigeria can learn from Indonesia's approach to greening their development process. We do not need to worry about a trade-off. We can have good growth, job and wealth creation whilst pursuing climate-friendly policies and approaches.

With President Jin Liqun and fellow members of the International Advisory Board Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB) in Beijing.

AIIB works beyond Asia and now has 87 member countries including in Africa and $6.3 billion in lending in its short time in operation.

AIIB is a 21st-century multilateral development bank trying to deliver faster, more flexible and to a high-quality standard for its clients.

At Tsinghua University in Beijing discussing the flagship report of the Global Commission on The Economy and Climate entitled “Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century: Accelerating Climate Action in Urgent Times“ with my Commission co-Chair Lord Nicholas Stern, Minister Liu Tanhua, Prof He Jiankun, Prof Qi Ye, and Prof Li Zheng.

Get the report and find out how countries can deliver economic prosperity and development whilst also addressing change!

The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 plunged many developed and emerging market countries into economic and financial crisis for years and, in some cases, for a decade.

A decade later as policymakers now wonder whether such a crisis or one similar could occur again, scholars examine the impact and responses to the last crisis with a view to lessons learned.

Join Ian Goldin @ian_goldin, Prof of Globalization and Development at the Oxford Martin School, Oxford University UK, as he interviews global leaders and economists, including myself, in a BBC radio program: “After the Crash” @BBCworld Service

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csxhjl

Fantastic energy at the Women In Africa Forum in Morocco.

Great to be with wonderful women entrepreneurs, bankers, financial managers, and CEOs from all over the continent and the men who support us women!

So good to have African women make their voices heard and their talents recognized. Thanks to the energy of Hafsat Abiola and Aude de Thune and their colleagues at WIA.

Women are on the march and will not be turned back!

Discussing Gender Equality and the importance of getting women on boards and increasing the number of female CEOs with HE Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, a huge champion of gender equality; Mr Ray Chambers, UN envoy on the SDGs and Ms Dayle Haddon, Founder of WomanOne on the sidelines of UNGA 2018.

With HE Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation UAE, HE President Kikwete, former President of Tanzania, and HE the Rt Hon Alastair Burt, Minister of State for the Middle East UK, at the joint Gavi-UAE breakfast on “Averting Future Disease Outbreaks” held on the sidelines of UNGA 2018.

All speakers, including Seth Berkeley Gavi CEO, Chris Elias, President BMGH, stressed that the first line of defence against disease outbreaks is to build resilient primary health care systems. And if a primary health care system cannot deliver basic vaccines, then that system is simply not working. It is not flashy, it is not “sexy”, it is Institution building and it is hard work!

But we have no choice. We have to focus on building our primary health systems if we are to improve the health of our children and the poorest among us in our countries. Thank you Minister Reem and the UAE for hosting such an excellent dialogue.

Happy to Co-chair the MIT Health Solve Challenge on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting. A wonderful opportunity for innovators to present their work focused on improving community-level health care delivery using technology and win financial, intellectual and capacity building support from the MIT Solve community.

So many wonderful initiatives ranging from end to end community healthcare delivery using technology equipped community health workers in Kenya and India, to blockchain technology for credentialing refugee health workers in Jordan and elsewhere, to biometric identification and wearable devices to monitor health situations of babies on the ground in developing countries.

Special congrats to Temie Giwa-Tubosun of Lifebank, Nigeria for a wonderful initiative supplying safe blood and other medical products to hospitals in Nigeria using a technology-enabled quality control to ensure safety. Congrats to the winners, all the presenters, my great Co-judges and the fantastic people of MIT Solve! #SolveMIT

Today, Sept 21st, International Peace Day was so fitting for the wonderful and dignified Tribute to HE Kofi Annan held by the UN General Assembly in New York.

President of the General Assembly, HE Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, UNSG Gutteres, former Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, HE Mary Robinson, former staff member and dear friend Iqbal Riza and beloved wife and son Nane and Kojo Annan, among others, gave beautiful tributes.

Kofi Annan was remembered as an iconic African, a proud son of Ghana, a global citizen, a quintessential diplomat, and a man with a self-deprecating sense of humour. I am glad his favourite Morgan Freeman lookalike joke was told and got everyone laughing again. Kofi Annan withstood so much and gave so much to the world. He will be forever remembered.

With HE Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley QC of Barbados discussing the economic problems of middle income small island states.

At Twitter in New York with CEO Mark Dorsey.

We listened to Chef Jose Andres, President of Think Food Group talk about how, with the help of a group of volunteer chefs, he used his cooking skills to propel a massive humanitarian effort feeding up to 150,000 people a day in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Read his book "We fed an Island" @chefjoseandres. Many of the hungry people got to him through Twitter! What an inspiration!

Always think of how you can use your God-given skills for the greater good! Twitter is good; let’s tweet for good!


https://mobile.twitter.com/NOIweala/status/1041043902441185280?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Among the most urgent priorities over the next 2-3 years are implementing carbon pricing and removing fossil fuels subsidies. This could generate more than US$2.8 trillion in government revenues in 2030, equivalent to the GDP of India today.

By CNBC Africa -September 6, 2018

By Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Co-Chair, Global Commission on the Economy and Climate

The world is teetering on the cusp of a new economic era. This comes as major structural changes are shaping the global economy, like rapid urbanisation, major demographic transitions, increasing globalisation, a shift to service-based economies, and increasing automation. Can this tremendous shift deliver strong, sustainable and inclusive growth? Will it make people’s lives better? The decisions we make today will determine the answers to these important questions.

One thing should be clear to us all and especially to those who will gather next week at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco: we are all significantly underestimating the economic opportunity that can be gained from cleaner, climate-smart growth. New analysis is finding that bold climate action could yield a direct economic gain of $US26 trillion through to 2030, compared with business-as-usual. And we know that these numbers are likely to be conservative.

We are at a unique “use it or lose it” moment in history. Over the next 12-15 years, we expect to invest about US$90 trillion in infrastructure, more than the total current stock. Ensuring that the infrastructure we invest in is sustainable will be a critical determinant of future growth and prosperity. And the good news is that making it sustainable doesn’t need to cost more, on the contrary, it can lead to real cost savings. Significant technological and market progress over the last decade has already begun driving the shift to a new climate economy, proving that we can have strong growth while acting on climate change. And we are already seeing real results: new jobs, economic savings, increased competitiveness and market opportunities, and improved wellbeing for people worldwide.

This period is also essential in terms of climate. The last 19 years included 18 of the warmest years on record. In 2017, weather- and climate-related disasters were responsible for thousands of deaths and US$320 billion in losses. Unless we act boldly on climate now, we will continue to see more frequent and more extreme weather events like these.

What will it take to unlock this opportunity? Among the most urgent priorities over the next 2-3 years are implementing carbon pricing and removing fossil fuels subsidies. This could generate more than US$2.8 trillion in government revenues in 2030, equivalent to the GDP of India today, for use toward other public priorities or reduce distorting taxes. Other key priorities that can be catalytic are accelerated investment in sustainable infrastructure, harnessing the power of the private sector and unleashing innovation, and ensuring a people-centred approach so that the gains are shared equitably and that the transition is just.

Women especially play a critical role in delivering and benefiting from inclusive, sustainable growth. Greater participation by women in the economy drives growth. And in countries where more women participate in political life, parliaments are more likely to set aside protected lands and ratify international environmental treaties. Given that women are often the most affected by a changing climate, and that they currently represent just 23% of parliamentarians worldwide, there is clearly an important opportunity to enhance women’s leadership in delivering this new growth agenda.

Accelerating towards a strong, sustainable, inclusive economy requires decisive leadership. Finance Ministers, in particular, play a critical role in guiding investments and setting the right conditions to unlock much-needed private capital at scale. When I served as Finance Minister of Nigeria, for example, we worked to reform petrol subsidies in 2012. Some $13bn worth of petrol subsidies had been burdening the Nigerian national budget, and we were able to redirect some of those funds to much more productive ends. Within a year, our programme to reinvest the savings from what was previously spent on subsidies meant we could finish the renovation of a north-south national railway, as well as introduce improved maternal and childcare services in 500 primary healthcare centres. Others have found similar benefits: in Indonesia, fuel subsidy savings in 2015 were reallocated to major investments in social welfare and infrastructure through increased budgets for ministries, state-owned enterprise, and transfers to regions and villages. Using lessons learnt from Nigeria, Indonesia and other countries, Finance Ministers can take bold steps to lead whole of government approaches to growth that can deliver development and climate objectives.

We can eliminate extreme poverty, prevent dangerous climate change, and improve the lives and livelihoods of millions. But only if we set out to do so decisively. Fortunately, we still have a window of opportunity to deliver a better world with more efficient, livable cities; with low-carbon, smart energy, mobility and water for all; and through the restoration of degraded lands while protecting valuable forests.

There can be no kicking the can down the road. Each effort underway around the world must build on the last to tip the world over the cusp and into a better future for all.

SOURCE: https://www.cnbcafrica.com/insights/energy-environment/2018/09/06/ngozi-okonjo-iweala-on-why-climate-leadership-is-a-new-growth-opportunity-for-the-world/

Launching the latest report of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate entitled “Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st century: Accelerating Climate Action in Urgent Times” with HE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York together with my Commission co-chair Lord Nicholas Stern and Honorary Chair former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon. Also supported by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed, Andrew Steer, Helen Mountford, Rachel Kyte and other distinguished participants.

This exciting report #UnlockingGrowth presents the new growth and development story of the 21st century essentially outlining the unprecedented economic opportunities that can be unlocked by pursuing a low carbon emissions sustainable growth path that unleashes a new climate economy.

If we act now the world can experience $26 trillion in economic benefits by 2030, create 65 million new jobs, and avert 700,000 premature deaths from pollution. These benefits will come through positive policies and actions in our energy and infrastructure systems, our cities, food and land use systems, water, and industry. And the need for a just transition that takes account of the needs of people and countries is emphasized.

Momentum is building with positive actions by business, civil society, and various levels of government.

The report presents concrete scalable policies and actions that can be built on. But we must act now and act urgently.

So inspired that the Government of Ghana is adopting the double intake system for Senior High School entrants starting in September 2018 to take care of the large numbers of new entrants due to the free Secondary Education Policy. Congratulations to President Nana Akufo-Addo and his team for being bold enough to do things differently!

The double intake system was first proposed by my father, Professor Chukwuka Okonjo, in the 1980’s when he was Education Advisor to the then PNDC Government of Ghana who also partially implemented this policy. Over the past 30 years he has refined the idea to include the double intake system at the tertiary level in his books ‘The Quiet Revolution’ (2000), ‘Nigeria in the First Decade of the 21st Century: Strategic Insights for Policy Makers’ (2000) and ‘Universal Tertiary Education’ (2017) the Chinese Translation of which is just coming out in 2018 as he turns 90!

Never too late and never too old to change the world! The lesson is - Never give up!

See the links below.
https://www.modernghana.com/news/872205/viva-okonjo-double-intake-has-resurrected-and-is-alive.html

As activities toward the general elections in the country gather momentum, Nigeria’s former minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has come hard on politicians to stop using her name as a ‘credibility pole vault’ to enhance their electoral chances.

https://newsbreakers.ng/stop-using-my-name-as-credibility-pole-vault-okonjo-iweala-warns/

Discussing STEM education with PhD and Masters students of the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) Abuja, accompanied by University President Prof Kingston Nyampfene, and Chair of Mathematics, Prof Charles Chidume.

The key issue is how do we train our best minds in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and retain them in Africa to help develop the continent? AUST, an affiliate of the Nelson Mandela Institution, is a graduate Pan African university that provides a solution to this African challenge.

The university encourages Africa’s best female and male minds to enroll. Its students and international faculty publish in the best refereed international and African journals. Their work in materials science, computer science, mathematics and other areas provide solutions to global and African problems on the ground.

Go for it AUST!

Wonderful to celebrate 100 years of Madiba Nelson Mandela. His legacy is precious and endures. As we celebrate, let us remember the importance he attached to education. He said, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

So let us unite and support the work of the Global Commission on Education @EduCommission which seeks a brighter education future for our children and youths. Let’s support the innovative International Facility for Financing Education IFFED.

In Tokyo, discussing Japan’s support for Gavi and global health in the context of UHC, G20 and TICAD.


With Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance HE Taro Aso, State Finance Minister HE Minoru Kihara, State Minister for Foreign Affairs HE Kazuyuki Nakane, and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and G20 SHERPA Mr. Kazuhisa Yamazaki.

Discussing Renewable Energy and jobs for Africa at SCALE on the sidelines of the African Union meeting in Nouakchott with Visionary, Founder and CEO SoftBank Masayoshi Son @Masason, COO SoftBank Marcelo Claure @marceloclaure and Cofounder Atlas Mara Ashish Thakker @ashishjthakker

Discussing “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous“ at a lunchtime forum organized by Women In Africa and Lazard Inspiring Women Initiative in Paris. Women In Africa seeks to provide African women with a platform on which to rise and thrive in leadership positions. Its theme this year of Building Trust In Africa complements issues highlighted in ‘Fighting Corruption.’

With Michele Lamarche of Lazard, Hafsat Abiola-Costello and Aude de Thuin of Women In Africa, and Cathia Lawson-Hall of Société Générale among other women leaders.

Addressing ministers and other leaders at the sixth GEF (Global Environmental Facility) Assembly in DA Nang Vietnam. With Michelle Bachelet, former President Chile, Naoko Ishii, CEO GEF, Paul Polman CEO, Unilever, Agnes Kalibata, President AGRA.

Working with governments, private sector and partners such as the Global Commission on Economy and Climate, GEF deploys over $4 bil in grants and concessional resources to support action on climate change, biodiversity, Food and Land Use including Restoration of degraded lands, Sustainable cities and sustainable forest management among other issues.

GEF is critical to developing countries delivering on their environmental, climate and sustainable development commitments. We can have a better world and a better climate.