Reforming the Unreformable ─ Lessons from Nigeria

Corrupt, mismanaged, and seemingly hopeless: that's how the international communityviewed Nigeria in the early 2000s. Then Nigeria implemented a sweeping set of economic and politicalchanges and began to reform the unreformable. This book tells the story of how a dedicated andpolitically committed team of reformers set out to fix a series of broken institutions, and in theprocess repositioned Nigeria's economy in ways that helped create a more diversified springboard forsteadier long-term growth. The author, Harvard- and MIT-trained economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,currently Nigeria's Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance and formerlyManaging Director of the World Bank, was a crucial player in her country's economic reforms. InNigeria's Debt Management Office and later as minister of finance, she spearheaded negotiations withthe Paris Club of Creditors that led to the cancellation of sixty percent of Nigeria's externaldebt. Reforming the Unreformable offers an insider's view of those debtnegotiations; it also details the fight against corruption and the struggle to implement a series ofmacroeconomic and structural reforms.

Nigeria's efforts can be viewed as alaboratory for other countries--not just resource-rich developing countries like Nigeria, but anycountry interested in reining in debt, managing volatility, saving for the future, or buildingcredibility with debtors and investors. This story of development economics in action, written fromthe front lines of economic reform in Africa, offers a unique perspective on the complex anduncertain global economic environment.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is Nigeria's Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance. From 2007 to 2011 she was Managing Director of the World Bank, overseeing activities in South Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa.