Christine Lagarde is the first woman to head ECB and IMF

Today, we discuss one of the most prominent financial and banking figures in Egypt and the world in modern history, talk about her journey and most prominent achievements; Christine Lagarde, the current president of the European Central Bank, and the former director general of the International Monetary Fund.

Christine Lagarde was born in Paris in 1956 and completed her secondary education in Le Havre, France, then attended the Holton- Arms School in Bethesda, then graduated from the Faculty of Law at  University of Paris, and obtained a master's degree from the Institute of Political Sciences in Aix-en-Provence, France.

After joining Paris Bar Associations,  Lagarde became a partner in the international law firm Baker & McKenzie, where she specialized in labor affairs, antitrust and mergers and acquisitions.

In 1995, she became a member of the Executive Committee of the Foundation, and continued to make significant shifts in her career, becoming in 1999 Chairman of the Global Executive Committee of Baker & McKenzie and then Chairman of the Global Strategy Committee in 2004.

Lagarde joined the French government in June 2005 when she assumed the position of Minister of Foreign Trade, and after a short period in which she held the position of Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, in June 2007 she became the first woman to assume the Ministry of Finance and Economy in one of the G7 countries.

Fom July to December 2008 she was President of ECOFIN Council, which includes the Ministers of Economy and Finance in the European Union, and contributed to the support of international policies related to financial control and regulation and the promotion of global economic governance.

During her presidency of the G20 representing France, which assumed the presidency of the group for 2011, she launched a wide-ranging program of work to reform the international monetary system.

In July 2011, Christine Lagarde became the 11th Managing Director of IMF, and the first woman to hold this position, and in February 2016, the Executive Board of IMF chose her to assume the position of Managing Director for a second five-year term beginning in July 2016.

Christine Lagarde continued her strong professional rise, as she assumed the presidency of the European Central Bank, succeeding Italian Mario Draghi in late November 2019, and her term lasted for eight years.

Lagarde has received much appreciation for her strong career and outstanding efforts in the global economy. Forbes magazine ranked her the 17th most powerful woman in the world, and Financial Times honored her as the Best Finance Minister in the Eurozone for 2009.

She also received Legion of Honor with as officer, from the French government in April 2012.