Nigeria’s former minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday won the overwhelming support of the World Trade Organisation’s 160 members to become the director general of the global trade body.
However, Okonjo-Iweala’s chances of being declared the next director general of the trade body suffered setbacks as the United States failed to endorse her for the top job thereby leaving the outcome uncertain
According to Financial Times, the US rejected the front-running candidate, a move which delays the decision on the process until after the US presidential election next week.
The process requires all WTO members to reach a consensus, rather than involving a formal vote. Candidates from Egypt, the UK, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Moldova and Kenya were eliminated in previous rounds.
In recent days three leading WTO ambassadors nicknamed “the troika” have been holding private consultations among the Geneva-based body’s members to establish which of the two remaining candidates attracts the widest support.
Okonjo-Iweala, who holds US as well as Nigerian citizenship, has emphasised her experience as a World Bank managing director and her role as chair of the board of Gavi, a public-private alliance to develop vaccines for low-income countries.
The drive to create a Covid-19 vaccine has sparked a debate about patents, which are protected by WTO agreements.
But a spokesman for the WTO, Mr. Keith Rockwell, said US delegates backed South Korea’s Ms Yoo Myung-hee because of her 25 years of trade experience.
She currently serves as South Korea’s trade minister.
“They said she would be able to hit the ground running. They said they could not endorse Dr Ngozi. I don’t know the reasons for that,’ said Rockwell.
In a statement, the US trade representative’s office confirmed Washington’s support for Ms Yoo, describing her as a “bona fide trade expert”, and arguing that the WTO was facing a “difficult time” and should be “led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field”.
The WTO’s members will next meet on November 9.
The role became available because of the unexpected early resignation of Roberto Azevêdo, a Brazilian who had held the job since 2013. He had another year remaining in his term of office but stepped down in September.
The organisation is currently without an interim director-general after China vetoed a US suggestion that the American Alan Wolff, one of the deputy directors-general, should take over in an acting capacity.
The new director-general will take over at a time when the WTO’s capacity to promote rules-based trade has been undermined by geopolitical tensions, including China’s model of capitalism and US president Donald Trump’s propensity for taking unilateral action to hit back against perceived ill-treatment of American companies.
They will also face a turbulent economic landscape as the coronavirus pandemic causes growing damage to global growth.
