Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed as WTO DG

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    WTO

    The 66-year-old Okonjo-Iweala, by her appointment, becomes the first woman to ever lead the Switzerland-based institution and the first African citizen to take on the role.

    The United State government gave its formal approval to the emergence of Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General, thereby removing the final obstacle to her bid to be the first woman and the first African to run the Geneva-based trade body.
    Okonjo-Iweala had last October secured the vote of 163 of the 164 members of the trade organization, but could not be declared the head of the WTO because the organisation’s selection rules stipulate that its DG has to emerge by consensus.
    Okonjo-Iweala had last October secured the vote of 163 of the 164 members of the trade organization, but could not be declared the head of the WTO because the organisation’s selection rules stipulate that its DG has to emerge by consensus.
    South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee, backed by the US, was Okonjo-Iweala’s sole opponent after other contestants withdrew from the race last year. She had recently announced her withdrawal from the race, after discussions with the United States and other major nations.
    Okonjo-Iweala is Nigerian-American economist and international development expert. She sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the African Risk Capacity.

    Previously, Okonjo-Iweala spent a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, scaling the ranks to the Number 2 position of Managing Director, Operations (2007–2011). She also served two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria (2003–2006, 2011–2015) under Nigerian presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan respectively.
    She spearheaded negotiations with the Paris Club that led to the wiping out of US$30 billion of Nigeria’s debt, including the outright cancellation of US$18 billion.
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