Business
US poses obstacle between Okonjo-Iweala, WTO DG chair
BY NICHOLAS ABE
The United States is reportedly posing an obstacle for the wholesale adoption of Nigeria’s Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Key WTO ambassadors, with the exception of the US, had Wednesday voted the Nigeria’s former two-time Minister of Finance as the best choice to lead the 25-year-old organisation.
The US said it supported South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, who is Okonjo-Iweala’s opponent in the race, to lead the WTO.
Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee, both women, became the last two out of a total of eight candidates nominated by their various countries for the top job.
WTO spokesman, Keith Rockwell, was quoted by AFP as saying 27 delegations had taken the floor during Wednesday’s meeting.
“One delegation could not support the candidacy of Dr Ngozi and said they would continue (supporting) South Korean minister Yoo. That delegation was the United States of America,” he added.
Rockwell, however, said Wednesday’s meeting “was never intended to make a final decision on our next DG.”
“That decision can only be taken by the General Council,” he added.
READ: BREAKING: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is WTO Director General
With the US’ opposition, the WTO’s 164 member states still need to determine whether they will support her before their next General Council meeting on November 9.
The initial pool of eight candidates for the WTO’s top post had been whittled down to just two over two previous rounds of consultations, with only Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee left in the race.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, who served as Nigeria’s first female finance and foreign minister, has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist at the World Bank.
“I feel the wind behind my back,” she told a virtual press briefing after the 55-member African Union officially supported her.
Okonjo-Iweala, who also serves on Twitter’s board of directors, as chair of the GAVI vaccine alliance and as a special envoy for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 fight, saw her candidacy get another boost this week when the EU threw its weight behind her.
If she eventually gets a majority backing, she would be the first woman and the first African to lead the global trade body in its 25-year history.