World
Updated: October 08, 2020

WTO Election: Okonjo-Iweala Makes History As She Makes Final Two List

By Olalekan Fakoyejo
October 08, 2020
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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been selected as one of the final two vying for the Director-General position of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Okonjo-Iweala, who is representing Nigeria, was nominated in June to replace Yonov Frederick Agah as Nigeria's candidate.

Okonjo-Iweala was heavily backed by many nationalities, including representatives of the European Union. She made it to the final cut with South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee. Both had initially started with six other candidates vying for the WTO DG position.

The eight candidates list was trimmed to five after Mexico's Jesus Saede Kuri, Moldova's Tudor Ulianovschi and Egypt's Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh were eliminated in the first round. Note that Africa had three candidates including Kenya's Amina Mohamed.

However, after the second round held yesterday, October 7, 2020, only Okonjo-Iweala made it to the final cut as Mohamed was eliminated alongside Britain's Liam Fox and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri.

Okonjo-Iweala Making History At WTO

The final choice for the WTO Director-General job will be announced on November 7, 2020. Making the final two list make Okonjo-Iweala the first Nigeria to make it this close to clinching the WTO DG job and the first woman in WTO history.

Also, if Okonjo-Iweala is selected as WTO DG, she will become the first African to occupy the position and the first woman ever to achieve the feat. Okonjo-Iweala's chances are high as she has been able to garner support from prominent political leaders globally.

And with WTO set to undergo restructuring and inclusion, she has positioned herself as the perfect candidate due to the fact that WTO has never been headed by a woman since its establishment in 1995, neither as an African head it. Also, she attained one of the highest positions in the World Bank after becoming the number 2 at World Bank as Managing Director.