Okonjo-Iweala Seek Second Term As WTO Director General
Former Minister of Finance in Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has declared her plans to seek for a second term as the World Trade Organisation’s Director-General.
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala revealed this to Reuters on Monday, saying that she would seek another four-year term as head of the World Trade Organization following a broad Africa-led push to start the process early, saying she hopes to complete “unfinished business” from her first mandate.
Okonjo-Iweala, aged 70, made history by becoming the first female and African chief of the 30-year-old trade body in 2021.
“I would like to be part of this chapter of the WTO story and I stand ready to compete for the position,” Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters, citing a letter she plans to send to the trade body’s main decision-making body on Monday.
“For my second term, I intend to focus on delivering,” she added, saying among the priorities were addressing “unfinished business”.
These include a deal on ending fisheries subsidies and reaching a breakthrough in global agriculture negotiations, as well as reforming the WTO’s hobbled disputes system and decarbonising trade.
Officially, she has until the end of November to decide whether to apply again. But the African-led move to start early, initiated in July before U.S.
President Joe Biden withdrew from the election campaign, was seen as motivated partly by a bid to secure her second term ahead of the U.S. vote in November.
Under WTO consensus rules, that would be possible if nobody else applies and all states accept her.
