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· Nigeria nominates former Minister of Finance and former Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
· Political observers as well as local and global experts regard the former minister of Nigeria as a front runner in the leadership race at WTO
Nigeria has nominated former Minister of Finance and former Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Geneva-based global trade body has announced on its website that Nigeria, on 9 June 2020, nominated Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the post of WTO Director-General. If selected, she will succeed the current Director-General, Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, who will step down on 31 August 2020. About three weeks ago, the incumbent WTO Director-General, Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, announced his decision to step down from the position on August 31, 2020, cutting his second term short by one year. The decision, he said, was to give his successor sufficient time to work with WTO members to shape the strategic direction for the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) and beyond.
Political observers as well as local and global experts, regard the former minister of Nigeria as a front runner in the leadership race at WTO. Some international experts are hailing Okonjo-Iweala as potentially WTO’s first African head to steer the institution out of the stalemate as a result of the trade war between the US and China. The optimism about her candidature is that since Africa is not perceived as a partisan player in the tariff battle between China, the US and the EU, an African candidate like Okonjo-Iweala would have a huge impact on stabilising WTO and stimulate global trade and the global economy in the post-COVID period.
With over 30 years of experience across the globe, Okonjo-Iweala is highly respected as a global finance expert, an economist and international development professional. Currently, she is the Chair of the Board of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. She also sits on the boards of Standard Chartered Plc and Twitter Inc. She is African Union Special Envoy to mobilise international financial support to fight COVID-19, as well as Envoy for the World Health Organisation’s access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator. Recently, she was appointed as a member of her newly-established External Advisory Group of International Monetary Fund (IMF). Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and briefly as Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. After a 25-year career at the World Bank, she rose to the number two position of Managing Director (Operations). At the World Bank, Okonjo-Iweala led several initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008-2009 food crisis and the global financial crisis.
Explaining the selection procedure, Chair of the General Council, David Walker, stated that the nomination period will close on 8 July 2020.
After the closure of nomination, candidates will be invited for an interaction with members at a special General Council meeting to present their views and take questions from the membership.
Egypt has strongly objected to Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination. In a letter to the African Union (AU) member-states, Egypt contended that her nomination was out of time and therefore breached the rules of nomination. According to insiders, Egypt was hopeful of getting its candidate nominated. However, a formidable candidate like Okonjo-Iweala has weakened its hopes.
