WTO puts 1st woman, African at helm of global trade policy
WASHINGTON — The World Trade Organization on Monday officially selected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian economist and former finance minister, to be its next leader. The first woman and first African to serve as director-general, Okonjo-Iweala will assume the post March 1 for a renewable term expiring Aug. 31, 2025.
Okonjo-Iweala said she was honored to have been selected and would work with the organization’s member countries to address health issues brought about by the pandemic and “get the global economy going again.”
Okonjo-Iweala takes the helm of the WTO at a particularly difficult time for the global trade body, which was created in 1995 to help settle trade disputes, write new trade rules and encourage the flow of goods and services worldwide.
The organization’s many critics say it has fallen short on several of those fronts,
including failing to advance new trade negotiations and adequately police unfair economic behavior from China.
In an acceptance speech given by video link to a mostly empty meeting room in the WTO’s headquarters on Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged those challenges but struck a hopeful note about how her leadership could help build a stronger, more relevant and more inclusive trading system.
“It’s been a long and tough road, full of uncertainty, but now it’s the dawn of a new day, and the real work can begin,” she said.
The WTO’s General Council, which includes representatives from all of the group’s 164 member countries, agreed in a meeting Monday that OkonjoIweala should be the next director-general. As with many of its other decisions, the organization was required to reach a consensus on the appointment.
The organization’s former director-general, Roberto Azevêdo of Brazil, left his post in August after announcing in May that he would be departing one year early. The members of the WTO then considered eight candidates for the position.
By October, most countries had announced their support for Okonjo-Iweala. But Trump administration officials continued to express support for South Korea’s trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee, saying they believed she had more trade experience.
After the Biden administration came into office, Yoo dropped her candidacy.