WTO Appoints Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as First Female Leader

The World Trade Organization picked its 1st female chief on Monday, presenting a refreshing start to an organization in search of to revive its affect around world wide financial rules.

The WTO’s 164 members unanimously backed former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, an economist who also rose to the major ranks of the World Financial institution a 10 years ago, as director-normal.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala emerged as the consensus select for the job in Oct when the WTO was because of to make a decision on a new chief. Nevertheless, her appointment was blocked by the Trump administration, which mentioned she lacked encounter on trade difficulties.

Before this thirty day period, shortly soon after South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-Hee pulled out of the race, the Biden administration backed Ms. Okonjo-Iweala. She will be the WTO’s 1st African chief and her expression will conclusion in 2025 except renewed.

The sixty six-calendar year-previous faces a overwhelming obstacle in reviving the affect of the WTO, whose prior chief, Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo, mentioned past May possibly he was stepping down a calendar year early.