Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Monday, March 1, officially resumed her position as the new Director-General of World Trade Organization (WTO) at the body’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance and development economist was confirmed as WTO DG on February 15 at the General Council Meeting of the global trade body.
Her assumption of office, Monday marked a historic moment for the world trade body as she becomes the first African and woman to head the WTO since inception.
Okonjo-Iweala had in her acceptance speech during WTO Council confirmation called on countries to collaborate by creating a nexus between public health and global trade to tackle the challenges posed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
She said the WTO under her watch would reform the trade dispute settlement system at the Geneva-based organization to address the multilateral concerns on trade gridlock rattling the body.
