Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is cruising closer to victory in her bid to become the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
According to reports from key officials at Geneva, Switzerland, the headquarters of WTO, the former Minister of Finance, has gained more support to overtake her rival, South Korea’s Ms Yoo Myung-hee.
However, there is no formal announcement of her appointment yet as the officials said the Organisation was billed to announce that later today, ahead of the initial November deadline.
Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organisation.
Daily Trust reports that at least 106 countries including France, Germany, and other top European countries have thrown their weights behind her appointment.
Her appointment will come at a time when WTO is marking its 25th anniversary.
According to a Tweet from WTO, “as the WTO is on the verge of getting its first female Director-General, we celebrate the Women Pioneers of the Organization.
“These women have made significant contributions to the WTO and have shaped int’l trade as we know it.”
WTO said in 2005, Arancha González became the first woman to serve as a Chief of Staff to a WTO Director-General, working in the cabinet of Pascal Lamy.
Eight years later in 2013, Arancha was appointed as the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre.
Sunanta Kangvalkulkij is the first Asian woman to serve as the Chair of the WTO General Council in 2019, the Organization’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, after a year of chairing the WTO’s
Commenting on her appointment process, Okonjo-Iweala, in a recent tweet, lauded her scores of supporters.
“Grateful for the endorsement of my WTO DG bid by such internationally renowned and respected leaders as Mary Robinson, Mo Ibrahim, Aliko Dangote, Strive Masiyiwa, (among others).”
She also assured that the benefits of WTO and of trade must be brought home and made real to the ordinary woman and man on the street.
“Grateful for your endorsement as WTO DG,” she added.
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