- Ramaphosa Hails ex-Minister, Says Her Emergence Will Boost AfCFTA
In final push, the African Union (AU) has activated its high-level diplomatic channel to rally global support for Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala after making it to the final round of selection for the Director General of World Trade Organization (WTO), The New Diplomat learnt Thursday.
Chairperson of AU, and South African President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa in a statement on the outcome of the second round of consultations for the position by the global trade body stated that AU will leave no stone unturned to ensure Okonjo-Iweala emerge as the substantial DG on November 7.
The statement obtained by The New Diplomat, Thursday, was issued by Tyrone Seale, the Acting Spokesperson to President Ramaphosa.
The New Diplomat earlier reported that Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank Chief is on the cusp history after she emerged as the first African woman to stand for election and reach the final stage of selection for the WTO DG.
Following the official announcement by the Geneva-based organization, the world is set to choose between two women: Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee as the first female leader of the WTO in about 25 years of its creation.
“Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Korean minister Yoo Myung-hee will advance to the third and final stage of consultations,” WTO spokesman, Keith Rockwell told reporters at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Thursday.
President Ramaphosa urged all AU member-states to give unflinching support to Okonjo-
Iweala’s bid during the final round of nominations. He also expressed his optimism that other regions and countries will also unite and support the African candidate, noting that her leadership of the WTO will assist in the full integration of the continent as an important player in the global multilateral trading system, particularly at a time when the Continent is working on operationalising the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), described as the biggest free trade area in the world.
President Ramaphosa who congratulated Okonjo-Iweala for the feat also expressed pride in the high calibre of the candidates from the continent, including Mr. Abdel Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt and Ms. Amina Mohamed of Kenya, whom he thanked for availing themselves of the WTO DG selection process.
Ramaphosa, the current AU Chairperson said: “Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is a highly distinguished African, who has excelled in various public offices, in her native Nigeria, including responsibilities in the AU, and in numerous international assignments.
“At a time when international organisations need to be repurposed, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is the right person to reposition the WTO in order to be an effective instrument for facilitating a fair, just, equitable and rules-based trading system. I have no doubt that she has the credentials and capability to restore order in an otherwise turbulent multilateral trading system.”
The two women saw off competition from Britain’s Liam Fox, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad al-Tuwaijri in the second round of the battle to become the next Director-General of the WTO.
According to WTO Spokesman, the third stage will run from October 19 to October 27, with a winner to be announced before November 7, just four days after the U.S presidential election.
The initial pool of eight candidates to replace Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down as WTO chief in August a year ahead of schedule, was narrowed down to five in last month’s first round.
Instead of straightforward elections, the WTO eliminates its leadership candidates through a process of consensus and preferences. Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee’s candidacies received a boost earlier this week when members of the European Union officially threw their weight behind them, leading to the elimination of three other hopefuls.
