UN Secretary-General António Guterres names Nigeria’s Ahunna Eziakonwa as Special Adviser on Africa
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ahunna Eziakonwa as the special adviser on Africa.
The appointment of Eziakonwa was announced in a statement published via the UN’s website on Friday.
She succeeds Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde in the role.
Before the new appointment, Eziakonwa served as the UN assistant secretary general, assistant administrator and director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a position she had held since 2018.
Previously, she served as UN resident coordinator, humanitarian coordinator and UNDP resident representative in three countries — Ethiopia, Uganda and Lesotho.
She also served as the chief of the Africa section at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), where she managed humanitarian operations across 15 African countries.
Before joining the UN, she held positions in several African civil society organisations.
Eziakonwa holds a master’s degree in international affairs with a focus on African economic and political development from Columbia University, New York, USA.
She earned a Bachelor’s of Education degree in English and Literary Studies from the University of Benin, Nigeria.
