Okonjo-Iweala, us Vice President, burns honored by the University of Pennsylvania

Respected American Ivy League institution, the University of Pennsylvania recently awarded honorary degrees to a select group of distinguished personalities from around the world for high achievement in various spheres.

Among the recipients was Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.

US Vice President Joseph R Biden Jnr and Ursula Burns, Chairman/CEO of Xerox Corporation, the first African-American woman to head a Fortune 500 company were also among the honorees.

According to the citation read at the ceremony: 'Okonjo-Iweala is responsible for managing the finances of Africa's most populous nation and one of the world's fastest growing economies. She's a former managing director of the World Bank where she had oversight responsibility for the bank's $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia. She also spearheaded initiatives to assist low-income countries during the food crisis and later the financial crisis, and she chaired the raising of $49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the world's poorest nations.'