Africa Press-Nigeria:
Nigeria’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been named a Special Envoy for the newly inaugurated Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
She is to serve alongside British business executive, Andrew Witty, in the same capacity, to mobilise international commitment to the initiative.
The appointment comes weeks after the IMF named Mrs Okonjo-Iweala a member of the fund’s External Advisory Group.
The Director-General of the organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus, made the announcement during the launch of the ACT Accelerator — via webinar from Geneva.
“I would especially like to thank Sir Andrew Witty and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for agreeing to act as Special Envoys for the ACT Accelerator,” Mr Ghebreyesus said in his remarks.
The initiative is an international collaboration aimed at accelerating the development, production, and equitable distribution of COVID-18 drugs, tests kits, and vaccines around the world.
