Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has guaranteed that she has back up from 79 nations, as she contests for the position of the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The former minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday voiced confidence in her mission to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO) after all of the African nations gave their support, vowing she would champion reform.
She revealed this while speaking during a virtual press conference on Friday, and she said, “I feel the wind behind my back, as the 55-man African Union (AU) has officially endorsed her over her only opponent, Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea.
She likewise said she felt “hopeful” about her help in Latin America, and said she believed she had gotten “excellent footing and great help” in Asia up until this point.
As indicated by her, a gathering of Caribbean and Pacific states had likewise said they would back her, bringing the number of nations formally supporting her office to 79 out of the 164 countries that contain the WTO
She also said she felt “optimistic” about her support in Latin America, and said she thought she had gotten “very good traction and good support” in Asia so far.
“I feel quite confident that across the regions, we will be able to attract” support, Okonjo-Iweala added, hinting that the European Union was due to announce its preference of the last two candidates “soon”.
President Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) had on Monday guaranteed Okonjo-Iweala during her visit to the presidential villa in Abuja that he would do all within his powers to ensure she lands the position.
WTO is set to be led by a woman for the first time to replace Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down as WTO director-general in August, a year ahead of schedule.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist at the World Bank and also filled in as Nigeria’s first female finance and foreign minister, said it would be good if WTO could also boast its first African leader.
“If that person is African and a woman, I think that is great. Because… neither an African nor a woman has led the organisation,” she said.
“If that person is African and a woman, I think that is great. Because… neither an African nor a woman has led the organisation,” she said.
In any case, when the WTO is overwhelmed by different challenges, she focused on the fact that the new Director-General should most importantly be profoundly skilled in political and diplomatic negotiations as well as at the administrative level.
Okonjo-Iweala said she had extensive involvement with supporting change and was the correct individual to help set the WTO back on target.
