Nigeria to swear in finance minister

2011-07-08 14:04

Abuja - Nigeria's president will swear in World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister on Friday and put her predecessor in charge of a newly-created sovereign wealth fund, presidency sources said.

Okonjo-Iweala and outgoing finance minister Olusegun Aganga were both approved for cabinet positions by the Senate this week. President Goodluck Jonathan needs to formally assign their portfolios and swear them in before they can take office.

Jonathan has asked Okonjo-Iweala, a respected former finance minister who helped negotiate debt rescheduling in 2005, to return to her old position with broad powers over economic management, the sources said.

Aganga, a former Goldman Sachs executive who oversaw the creation of the sovereign wealth fund, will be named to a newly-expanded position as minister for commerce and investment, which will oversee the fund, the sources said.

Jonathan was sworn in for his first full term on May 29 and his ministerial choices are being closely watched by Nigerians and foreign investors keen for a team capable of driving badly needed reforms in Africa's third largest economy.

He has already reappointed 12 ministers from the outgoing government to their old jobs, including oil minister Deziani Alison-Madueke, a move his critics saw as an uninspiring start.

The inclusion of Okonjo-Iweala in the cabinet could lend more weight to his reform ambitions, although sceptics question whether she will have the full political backing she needs.

- Reuters