Many Nigerians and Africans alike are anxiously waiting for the official confirmation of former finance minister of Nigeria, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as the Director General elect of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The Nigerian economist and formerVice President of the World Bank, emerged the preferred candidate after the rigorous selection process of the WTO. But the official announcement had to be suspended because the USA under former President Donald Trump raised an objection to her emergence as the preferred candidate, stating that he preferred South Korea’s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, since according to him, the South Korean got the requisite experience to lead the organisation.
However, with the turn of events and the election of President Joe Biden, the US has now endorsement the candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala and thus paving the way for her to be the first woman and African to emerge as the Director General of the WTO.
This latest development was received with joy by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who had engaged in extensive diplomatic engagements and consultations to ensure that Okonjo-Iweala made it at the WTO. The elated President Buhari said on Saturday, February 6, that Nigeria and Africa were happy with the US endorsement of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.
President Buhari said he welcomed the pronouncement of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, signifying withdrawal of the country’s objection to Okonjo-Iweala’s emergence as WTO DG.
“Nigeria and the entire African continent are happy about this new U.S position, which signifies a shift and an important turnaround in the relations between our continent and the United States under the Biden administration,” Buhari said.
“We certainly welcome the decision of the new U.S administration to remove the last obstacle in the path of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala to becoming the first female and the first person of African descent to lead the organization.
“Today, we see that the United States stands with Nigeria and Africa with the acceptance of our widely respected citizen, Okonjo-Iweala to lead the WTO. We look forward to working very closely with the new U.S administration on this and all issues of common interests, especially in such areas as accelerated economic growth, fight against terrorism and deepening progress on development issues,” the statement by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, quoted President Buhari as saying.
Responding to the endorsement by the new US administration and the role played by the Nigerian leader, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, thanked Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari for their support following her emergence as the sole candidate for the top job at the WTO. She expressed her appreciation to the United States Government for endorsing her to become the Director-General of the global trade body.
Writing in her Twitter handle on Friday, February 5, Okonjo-Iweala also congratulated Madam Yoo of Rep. Korea for a hard fought campaign. It will be recalled that while the majority of the member-countries of the WTO had endorsed the Nigerian candidate, Ms Myung-hee had enjoyed the support of former U.S. President Donald Trump in their bids to become the WTO DG. However, the Korean minister on Friday, announced that she was abandoning her bid to lead the international trade body, leading to Okonjo-Iweala’s emergence as the sole candidate for the job.
Following the development, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in a statement, said, “The United States takes note of today’s decision by the Republic of Korea’s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee to withdraw her candidacy for Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director-General of the WTO.
“Dr Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister.
“She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership,” it added.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, was nominated as Nigeria’s candidate to lead the WTO by President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2020. She studied at Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976. In 1981, she earned her Ph.D in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
She is married to Dr. Ikemba Iweala, a neurosurgeon. They have four children. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development expert, with 25-year career at the World Bank and rose to the second top position of Managing Director, Operations. She had also served as the Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the economy, under President Goodluck Jonathan. After her career in government, Okonjo-Iweala became a member of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (2015-2016), chaired by Gordon Brown, and the Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance, which was established by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (2017-2018). Since 2014, she has been co-chairing the Global Commission for the Economy and Climate, with Nicholas Stern and Paul Polman. In January 2016, she was appointed the Chair-elect of the Board of Gavi.
Okonjo-Iweala is the founder of Nigeria’s first indigenous opinion-research organization, NOI-Polls. She also founded the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa (C-SEA), a development research think tank based in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital and is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development and the Brookings Institution.
Since 2019, Okonjo-Iweala has been part of UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education, chaired by Sahle-Work Zewde. Also since 2019, she has also been serving on the High-Level Council on Leadership & Management for Development of the Aspen Management Partnership for Health (AMP Health). And in 2020, the International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva appointed her to an external advisory group to provide input on policy challenges. Also in 2020, she was appointed by the African Union (AU) as special envoy to solicit international support to help the continent deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Okonjo-Iweala has the record of being the first in some of her endeavours. For instance, she was the first woman to become Finance Minister of Nigeria, and first woman to serve in that office twice as well as being the first woman to serve as Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister. And soon, Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and African to become the Director General of the WTO, which is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade. The main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
GIK/abj/APA