Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Makes Forbes List of Most Powerful Women of 2012

Nigerian minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been listed with 10 other black women in Forbes 2012 list of the most powerful women in the world. She was ranked number 81 on the list.

Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel was listed first on the list, followed by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama is the highest ranked black woman, coming in at number 7.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey comes in at number 11 and Stefani “Lady GaGa” Germanotta is the highest ranked artiste at 14.

Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton Most ‘Powerful’ Women – Forbes

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are the world’s most powerful women, according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey.

Following the two stateswomen in the 2012 rankings was Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff.The list covers women in fields as diverse as politics, business, media, entertainment and non-profits, their rankings determined by calculating wealth, media presence and overall impact.

The 100-strong list at www.forbes.com/power-women includes
25 CEOs overseeing $US984 billion ($938 billion) in revenues. The women come from a total of 28 countries, with an average age of 55. Sixteen women enter the list for the first time, including singer Jennifer Lopez, former US Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, Meg Whitman of HP and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo.

Lady Gaga, the pop singer, makes it to 14 and at 26 years old is the youngest. The oldest, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who is 86, ranks only at number 26.

Others in the top tier include US First Lady Michelle Obama at seven, and Indian President Sonia Gandhi at six. The first female executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson, is at five, while influential philanthropist Melinda Gates is ranked fourth.

For Ms Merkel, the top spot comes for the second year in a row and reflects her role in trying to resolve the European Union’s financial crisis. She “is the ‘Iron Lady’ of the European Union and the lead player in the euro zone economic drama that continues to threaten global markets,” Forbes said.

Mrs Clinton, the magazine says, “has had a formidable past 12 months” and is set to resign at the end of they year.

Another major US political figure, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, makes nine on the list. She is also the first female head of that department.

“This year’s Power Women exert influence in very different ways, and to very different ends, and all with very different impacts on the global community,” said Moira Forbes, president of ForbesWoman.

“Whether leading multi-billion-dollar companies, governing countries, shaping the cultural fabric of our lives, or spearheading humanitarian initiatives, collectively these women are changing the planet in profoundly powerful and dynamic ways.”

FORBES AFRICA August Edition: 20 POWERFUL WOMEN - Linda Ikeji Featured

Donning the cover on the August issue is one of Africa’s richest women Wendy Appelbaum as she talks about ‘why women in the boardroom should be making noise’.

Although the list is yet to be released online by Forbes, people are already excited and eager to know who made it.

‘It has been a long struggle for women in business, which is far from over. History even records the first woman to work in an office in Johannesburg. It was in 1894, screens were put up around her because it was not appropriate for her to be seen – more on this in the cover story of the August issue’, says Managing Editor for Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop.

Popular Nigerian blogger Linda Ikeji is also featured in the magazine. Forbes describes Ikeji, a former model and magazine publisher,as ‘Nigeria’s highest paid blogger’ in the article ‘Beauty, Brains and the Business of Blogging’.

‘This edition also includes the Forbes list of Africa’s most prominent women as well as interviews and inspirational stories of some of the continent’s most powerful woman to date‘, he concludes.