Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Quotes

Investing in women is smart economics, and investing in girls, catching them upstream, is even smarter economics.

When it comes to doing my job, I keep my ego in my handbag.

The best way to help Africans today is to help them to stand on their own feet. And the best way to do that is by helping create jobs.

[Africa] is a continent of many countries, not one country. If we are down to three or four conflicts, it means that there are plenty of opportunities to invest in stable, growing, exciting economies where there's plenty of opportunity.

Africans… their tired. They’re tired of being the subject of everybody’s charity and care. We are grateful, but we know that we can take charge of our own destinies if we have the will to reform.

I believe that when you find problems, you should also find solutions.

Mobile phone technology can help to bring financial services to the 80 percent of African women who do not have a bank account and bolster the growth of the world's poorest continent. It's not just about empowering women, it's about economic growth. Unless we can make access to finance easier for women in their businesses, we will be missing out on a significant portion of growth within our economies

I'm standing here saying that those who miss the boat now, will miss it forever. So if you want to be in Africa, think about investing.

I can take hardship. I can sleep on the cold floor anytime. I can also sleep on a feather bed.

Life really went backwards. My parents lost everything, all their savings, because we had to run from the Nigerian side to the Biafran side. We were Igbos.

When you save the life of anyone, a farmer, a teacher, a mother, they are contributing productively into the economy.

Educating our young girls is the foundation for Nigerias growth and development.

If we save people from HIV/AIDS, if we save them from malaria, it means they can form the base of production for our economy.

Today, the European Union is busy transferring aid. If they can build infrastructure in Spain, roads, highways ... why do they refuse to use the same aid to build the same infrastructure in our countries?

The idea [the government's 'You Win' campaign] is that instead of young people in Nigeria waiting to get employment, they should create their own jobs and employ their peers and employ other people.

Im told Im like my father, and he was the most wonderful man. But I think he was gentler than me.