Business
Dangote joins list of prominent global voices backing Okonjo-Iweala for WTO DG
BY NICHOLAS ABE
Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has lent his weight to the growing number of powerful voices across the globe rooting for the candidacy of Nigeria’s Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the coveted job of Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Eight candidates have so far been nominated by their various countries to take over the vacant seat left by former DG, Roberto Azevêdo of Brazil, who formally stepped down August 31, 2020.
It is now left for the 164 WTO-member countries to choose out of Kenya’s former WTO General Council chair Amina Mohamed; Egyptian former diplomat Hamid Mamdouh; South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee; former Saudi economy minister Mohammed al-Tuwaijri; Mexican former WTO deputy director-general Jesus Seade; former Moldovan foreign minister Tudor Ulianovschi; Nigerian former foreign and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and Britain’s first post-Brexit international trade secretary Liam Fox, to fill the vacancy.
Billionaire industrialist Dangote has now joined Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard; former British prime minister, Gordon Brown; former prime minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark; former Kenya anti-corruption boss, Patrick Lumumba; the ECOWAS member-countries among many others.
READ: Ex-British PM, Gordon Brown, endorses Okonjo-Iweala for WTO job
Dangote in a message on his Twitter handle said WTO would need the skills and experience of Dr Iweala to go through the challenges currently before it.
“In these challenging times @WTO needs the renowned skills and tested experience of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala @NOIweala to lead the organisation through identified obstacles and strengthen its position as the prime facilitator of international trade.
“A vote for her by all is a step in the right direction. I fully endorse the candidature of @NOIweala to lead @WTO,” Dangote tweeted Tuesday.
Speaking with Washington International Trade Association in July, Okonjo-Iweala, twice Nigeria’s minister of Finance, unfolded her vision for a reformed WTO, saying she would “bring a fresh pair of eyes to seek solutions that ensures the organization continues to play a vital role in the multilateral trade system.”