The Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Nigerian-born Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says she is not interested in contesting the 2023 presidential election, describing the speculation as “utterly ridiculous and not true.”
Okonjo-Iweala spoke in reaction to the rumour that she is reportedly mulling the possibility of resigning her WTO job barely seven months into her 4 1/2-year term.
Rather, she said, “I just got here. I am enjoying what I’m doing. It is a very exciting job and I am trying to have some successes here.”
According to the Bloomberg News which broke the news, the WTO boss began the year with “a plan to score quick negotiating victories that she said would help reboot the dysfunctional Geneva-based trade body;” but she has fully grasped the frustrating reality of the WTO’s historical inertia.
The New York-based medium quoted five trade officials in Geneva who declined to be identified.
This year, Okonjo-Iweala has repeatedly told ambassadors and staff that she could easily walk away from the job, and reminds them she hasn’t bought any furniture for her temporary home in Geneva, the officials said.
An early departure of the WTO’s top trade official would add yet another layer of chaos to an organization suffering from an existential crisis that may lead governments to conclude the WTO is not a credible forum for addressing their shared challenges, the medium stated.
