NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA, MO ABUDU AMONGST FORBES TOP MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN 2025
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Two well–known Nigerian women, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Mo Abudu, have been named in Forbes’ 2025 list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. This shows how much influence they have in areas like trade, government, and media on a global level.
The list was announced on Wednesday through the magazine‘s website.
It highlights women who are making important decisions in business, politics, culture, and international leadership. Okonjo-Iweala and Abudu are listed with other important figures, including Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, who is ranked number one, Christine Lagarde, the President of the European Central Bank, ranked number two, Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, at number three, Claudia Sheinbaum, the President of Mexico, at number five, and Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the Prime Minister of Namibia, at number 79.
Okonjo-Iweala, positioned at No. 92, currently heads the World Trade Organization, becoming both the first woman and the first African to lead the institution since taking office in March 2021. Forbes hails her as “an economist and international development professional” with “more than 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.”
Before becoming part of the WTO, she worked as Nigeria’s Finance Minister twice — first from 2003 to 2006 and then again from 2011 to 2015 — and for a short time served as the Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006. She also led the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has helped protect more than 760 million children around the world.
She graduated from Harvard University and earned her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
At 71 years old and a mother of four, she is known for using trade as a way to help poor countries grow and improve people‘s lives.
Abudu is ranked number 98 and is a media boss, philanthropist, and the founder of EbonyLife Media.
She started EbonyLife TV in 2006, and the network now runs in over 49 countries, including the UK and the Caribbean. Forbes says she helped the company make big deals with Sony Pictures Television, AMC Networks, and Netflix. EbonyLife became the first African studio to sign a major agreement with Netflix for films and TV shows.
In November 2025, EbonyLife launched a new streaming app called EbonyLife ON Plus, which is available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
She was born in London and spent part of her childhood in Nigeria with her grandmother before returning to the UK.
Forbes calls her “one of the most influential women in global media.”
The 2025 ranking also reflects the rising dominance of women in technology and artificial intelligence, featuring leaders such as AMD chief executive Lisa Su (No. 10), Alphabet President and CIO Ruth Porat (No. 12), Nvidia’s Colette Kress (No. 37), Meta’s CFO Susan Li (No. 41), and Microsoft’s Amy Hood (No. 16).
Other influential names include Daniela Amodei (No. 73), co-founder and president of Anthropic, who recently joined the ranks of self-made billionaires after the company hit a $183 billion valuation, and OpenAI’s chief financial officer Sarah Friar (No. 50).
In entertainment, reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian (No. 71) earned her spot after raising $225 million for Skims at a $5 billion valuation and launching NikeSKIMS in partnership with Nike. Forbes also spotlighted the women behind Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters (No. 100), who continue to command a cross-generational global following.
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