As the race for the top job of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reaches a crescendo, former World Bank Chief, Nigeria’s Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and other candidates have called for a quick vetting and announcement of the candidate for the job.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she hoped members would make a quick decision, saying the world was at an “uncertain juncture” due to the pandemic while urging the United State not to leave the WTO but to work with the body on reform.
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On his part, Egypt’s candidate, Hamid Mamdouh, said the top challenge the body was facing was a “fading sense of common purpose” and vowed to “immediately revive the negotiating function of the organization”. He also urged Beijing and Washington to resolve their trade disputes within the multilateral body.
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Nominations from eight countries have been submitted, with three women, three African candidates, and a former Saudi air force pilot all jostling to replace Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo, who will step down a year early at the end of August.
Okonjo Iweala will be battling candidates from Egypt, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Moldova, Saudi Arabia, and the UK who have all submitted nominations for the post of the WTO’s Director-General.
This phase of the race kicks off up to two months of campaigning followed by a final decision by consensus.
Recall that Okonjo-Iweala had reiterated that her forthright credentials, skill-sets, and hands-on expertise are what the WTO needs now for proper repositioning and to navigate its way through the pandemic crisis.
“I am the best woman for the job,” she had said while banking on her background as a development economist with decades of experience in the trade as handy tools for the WTO’s Director-General position.
