Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Nigerian economist is the first black woman leader of the WTO

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Yoo Myung-hee, South Korean trade minister, announced her decision to withdraw in a televised briefing on Friday.

Okonjo-Iweala, an economist and former Finance Minister of Nigeria, has already enjoyed widespread support from WTO members, including the European Union, China, Japan and Australia.
However, the United States, under the Trump administration, had preferred Yoo, complicating the decision-making process, as the selection of a new leader requires all WTO members to agree. The formal selection of Okonjo-Iweala may have to wait until after the United States appoints a new trade representative.

Yoo said her decision was made after “close consultation” with the United States. The WTO has been without a leader for too long, she added.

The Geneva-based body charged with promoting free trade no longer has a permanent director general since Roberto Azevêdo stepped down a year ahead of schedule in late August after the WTO found itself in the midst of an escalating trade battle between the United States. States and China.

The Trump administration was highly critical of the WTO and undermined its status by imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union. Okonjo-Iweala will thus take control of an organization that has struggled to avoid barter trade between its members.

While US President Joe Biden has already taken steps to restore support for multilateral institutions, he is expected to exercise caution when signing new trade deals.

In a speech to the State Department on Thursday, Biden pledged to put diplomacy back at the heart of US foreign policy, but also carefully emphasized that foreign policy should benefit middle-class Americans.
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Hailing from one of the few parts of the world where free trade is booming, Okonjo-Iweala told CNN in August that trade would play an important role in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

“The WTO needs a leader right now. It needs a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone who is able to implement reforms and work with members to ensure that the WTO is the partial paralysis comes where she’s in, ‘she said in an interview.

Okonjo-Iweala worked for 25 years at the World Bank as a development economist and rose to general manager. She also chaired the board of Gavi, which helps distribute coronavirus vaccines worldwide, and stepped down at the end of her term in December.

– Eoin McSweeney, Yoonjung Seo and Stephanie Busari contributed to the reporting.

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