NGOZI Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist and former minister for finance, could be on course to clinch the director-general position of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) following the withdrawal of South Korean opponent, Yoo Myung-hee.
Yoo’s withdrawal is contained in a statement issued by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Friday. She is the current minister of the South Korean Trade Ministry.
Before her announcement, Okonjo-Iweala and Yoo had been the remaining candidates of the eight from various continents who showed interest in leading the WTO following the decision of Roberto Azevedo, former WTO DG, to stepped down from his post in August- a year before the end of his tenure.
Earlier in October 2020, the panel of three senior WTO ambassadors had told Okonjo-Iweala that she had a wide margin of support and was best poised to command a consensus from the organization’s 164 members.
Sherwin Bryce-Pease, United Nations bureau chief of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), reported that the WTO General Council chair had recommended Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the next DG of WTO.
However, Bryce-Pease said the Trump-led US government had insisted that the South Korean candidate remained its candidate for the position, This led to a stalemate in the process.
Consequently, the General Council shifted the decision to elect the next director-general of the WTO to November 9th , but the process is yet to be concluded.
Read Also: Okonjo-Iweala excited by US support, edges closer to WTO job
How change in US government might have influenced Yoo’s withdrawal
There are indications that the recent change in government in the United States might have influenced the withdrawal of the South Korean candidate.
Bloomberg reports that Yoo’s withdrawal followed advice from ‘dozens’ of former U.S. government officials who urged Joe Biden, incumbent US President, to endorse Okonjo-Iweala for the post.
CREDIT: The ICIR
The Biden-led US government has appointed many individuals of Nigerian and African descent into his cabinet since assuming power on January 20, 2021.
Although a Nigerian, Okonjo-Iweala also holds US citizenship which could further influence the new US government to support her bid.
If Okonjo-Iweala emerges as WTO DG
If the former Nigerian minister of finance is appointed DG of the WTO, she would not only be the first African to hold the seat but also the first woman to ever become the DG of the 164-member organisation.
Okonjo-Iweala combines experiences as a development economist, and finance/international development expert.
She graduated with a degree in Economics from Harvard University in the United States (US) and also earned a doctorate degree in Regional Economics and Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), also in the US.
The development economist also has 15 honorary degrees from top universities around the world, including Yale, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Beyond her Ivy League education, Okonjo-Iweala has served twice as Nigeria’s finance minister, after a successful career in the World Bank, rising to the level of Managing Director.
One of her achievements as a minister in Nigeria was the debt relief package which she helped Nigeria to secure from the Paris Club.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94