Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala elected Director-General of WTO – to be first woman to hold office

Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday became the first woman and the first African to lead the World Trade Organization. In this way, Okonjo-Iweala enters the inner circle of women in high institutional positions in the world. It is “a historic moment”, summed up the WTO by announcing its appointment.

The official, who will take office in March, said the decision “both motivates and intimidates because I take the reins of the WTO at a time of great uncertainty and great challenges“. “A strong WTO is essential if we are to fully and quickly recover from the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he continued. His mandate will last four years and may be renewed.

“Our organization faces many challenges but by working together, collectively, we can make the WTO stronger, more agile and better suited to current realities»Addition of the new director general of the institution, which has 164 member countries and is based in Geneva.

Among his long list of tasks, he has made sure that his top three priorities over the next 100 days will be: pandemic response, fisheries subsidies and dispute resolution body (the WTO tribunal) which was torpedoed by the government of former US President Donald Trump.

Strong will and determination

Her appointment was quickly greeted by other women, also at the head of powerful institutions.

“Congratulations to my friend Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who became the first female director general of the WTO, ”tweeted Christine Lagarde, first president of the European Central Bank and former director of the IMF, who also praised “her firm will and determination, (which) will lead her to relentlessly promote free trade for the benefit of the populations of the world”.

For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der LeyenHe said he was “very happy to see a woman from Africa at the head of the WTO”. This is “a historic moment for the whole world,” he said..

Okonjo-Iweala she was the only female candidate left in the race thanks to a broad consensus and support from the African Union and the European Union, as well as the United States after taking office by President Joe Biden.

Twice Minister of Finance and Head of Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Portfolio for two months, Okonjo-Iweala started her career at the World Bank in 1982, where she worked for 25 years. In 2012, she failed to become president of this financial institution and the post went to the Korean-American Jim Yong Kim.

From now on, you will be in charge of an institution which, Since its creation in 1995, it has been managed by six men: three Europeans, a New Zealander, a Thai and a Brazilian..

“The United States looks forward to working with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala to ensure that this institution lives up to its potential as a body to promote equitable economic growth in commerce,” said the US diplomat David Bisbee at the Monday meeting in Geneva. .

In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari noted that Okonjo-Iweala is launched in a “An arduous task in the service of humanity”, but he said he was convinced that “his integrity and his passion for development will continue to yield positive results.“.

Its main challenge will be bring the WTO, the only international organization in charge of trade rules between countries, out of an almost existential crisis.

The pandemic has exposed all the fractures caused by the liberalization of world trade, from excessive dependence on dispersed production chains, to excessive industrial relocation or the fragility of commercial traffic.

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