GENEVA (CU)_For the first time in history a black woman is set to govern global trade, as the path has been cleared for Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be appointed as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), after South Korea’s candidate withdrew from the race for the position.
The South Korean trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee, announced her decision in a televised briefing on Friday (Feb 5), saying the WTO had been without a leader for too long, and her decision had been reached after “close consultation” with the United States.
Although Okonjo-Iweala had already secured the overwhelming backing of WTO’s 164 members, including the EU, China, Australia and Japan, however, the United States, under the Trump administration opposed to her appointment, and expressed preference for Yoo. This complicated the decision-making process, since the appointment of the new Director General requires all members of the Organisation to agree.
The Geneva-based body, which has been negotiating trade deals and settling trade disputes since 1995, has been without a permanent leader since August last year, following the resignation of Roberto Azevêdo, who stepped down a year earlier than planned.
In November last year, the WTO cancelled the key meeting during which, the next Director General of the Organisation was due to be appointed. Although the WTO said the meeting was cancelled on account of “the health situation and current events”, however, trade experts said President Trump’s defeat in the US Presidential Election a week earlier may have led the member states to call for a delay in the leadership race, with the intention of securing support from the United States for Okonjo-Iweala after President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January.
Despite Yoo’s withdrawal, Okonjo-Iweala’s formal selection may have to wait until the Biden administration appoints a new trade representative for the United States.
Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and development specialist, who has served as Nigeria’s foreign minister and finance minister and as the managing director of the World Bank. Last year, she also chaired the board of Gavi, which is helping to distribute Coronavirus vaccines globally, and stepped down at the end of her term in December.
During his term, President Trump was highly critical of the WTO, claiming that the Organisation was “broken” and “horrible”. However, President Joe Biden, who took office last month, is expected to restore the United States’ support for multilateral institutions, as he has pledged to put diplomacy back at the center of US foreign policy.
