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BY: Ajoa Yeboah-Afari
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At long last, on February 15, the long awaited, historic announcement came from the World Trade Organization: “The General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the seventh Director-General.”
Dr Okonjo-Iweala, is the first woman and the first African to be appointed to that position.
On March 1, she begins her four-year, renewable tenure in Geneva, Switzerland, with the organization which deals with global rules of trade between nations.
The following are excerpts from Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s very long, awe-inspiring biography:
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Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a global finance expert, an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Can This Grandmother Save The World?
As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) formally announced the appointment of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Director General this week, a Swiss newspaper received her with a disgraceful headline: “This Grandmother will become the boss of the WTO,” with her photograph under the headline.
The headline sparked an outrage, forcing the editors to modify their position: “This 66-year-old Nigerian will head WTO.”
At least, three Swiss newspapers – Luzerner Zeitung, Aarguaer Zeitung and St. Galler Tagblatt – fetched their headlines from the gutter, making slight changes only after they were called out for racism.
They removed the sting but left the poison. That’s their grief. The candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala for the position of DG has been one of the most contentious in the history of the 26-year-old organisation. And partly for the sort of maliciously dumb reason reflected in the headline of the Swiss newspapers.
Okonjo-Iwealaâs appointment holds substantial prospects for Nigeria and Africa
In a season of bad news for the country, the appointment of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has brought a welcome relief. The historic development was formalised on Monday when the General Council agreed by consensus to select the former World Bank Managing Director as the seventh Director-General. By the appointment, Okonjo-Iweala has become the first woman and first African to head the WTO in its 73-year history.
While there are significant lessons from Okonjo-Iwealaâs appointment, we recall that after a long process that started almost a year ago, she had last December defeated her remaining challenger, South Koreaâs Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee by a sizeable margin. That was after securing the support of WTO members from Africa, Caribbean, European Union, China, India and many other regions and countries across the world. But the
Business/Trade
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. Yes, the first woman and first African to lead the global trade body. While the celebration over her appointment is ongoing, the reality is that the task ahead of her is challenging. Nosa James-Igbinadolor looks at the priorities of the new WTO chief
With the apex leadership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) now empanelled with the selection of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the new director-general of the organisation, there are growing expectations from across the world as to the capacity of the WTO under Okonjo-Iwealaâs leadership to change the political economy and trans-national dynamics of global trade.