World Trade Organization D-G: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Reaches Final Stage

Nigeria’s representative for the post of Director-General, World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has progressed to the final stage of the contest.

The former finance minister was shortlisted alongside South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee by members of the Geneva-based trade body.

The Geneva-based trade body is expected to choose on Thursday between Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and  South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee.

According to APF report,  member states’ decision tends towards Okonjo-Iweala for the WTO Director-General office. If  Ngozi Okonjo Iweala eventually made it, she would be the first female for the exalted office at WTO.

Okonjo-Iweala and Yoo’s candidacies received a boost earlier this week when EU member states officially threw their weight behind them.

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A third and final round of consultations will begin later this month and is scheduled to run until November 6, when the WTO aims to agree by consensus on the next director-general.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, served as Nigeria’s first female finance and foreign minister and has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two.

She is also on the Twitter board of directors and is a special envoy for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 fight.

If she emerges triumphant from the final elimination round, she would not only be the first woman but also the first African to lead the global trade body.