“I’d been away for 15 years. I did not want to come back,” says Paraguayan finance minister Lea Giménez. “But Paraguay has finally woken up and things are happening, and it’s really encouraging.”
Ms Giménez joined her country’s Ministry of Finance in 2016 as economic vice-minister, having covered various roles at the World Bank. When, in mid-2017, then finance minister Santiago Peña announced his candidacy in the forthcoming presidential elections, she took over, becoming the first woman to run the ministry, and, at 36 years of age, like her predecessor one of the younger professionals who are bringing about change in the country.