Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala poised for second term as WTO DG, emerges sole candidate

Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been confirmed as the sole candidate for the position of director-general at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The global trade body announced that Okonjo-Iweala, who previously served as Nigeria’s finance minister, has agreed to a second term at the helm of the organization.

Okonjo-Iweala’s current tenure, which began in March 2021, has been marked by efforts to strengthen multilateral trade systems and address global trade challenges.

“Nominations for Director-General closed; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed as sole candidate,” the WTO said in a Saturday statement.

“Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, Chair of the General Council, informed WTO members on 9 November that no further nominations for the position of Director-General had been received by the deadline of 8 November and that the incumbent Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is therefore the only candidate for the role.

“Director-General Okonjo-Iweala confirmed her willingness to serve a second four-year term in the role in a letter to the Chair on 16 September. On 8 October, the WTO formally commenced the process for appointing its next Director-General, with members given until 8 November to submit nominations.”

The WTO said the chair of the General Council will communicate the next steps in this process in the coming days.

“The process was led by the General Council Chair in accordance with the WTO’s “Procedures for the Appointment of Directors-General,” the organisation said.

Okonjo-Iweala’s present term will end on 31 August 2025.

The former minister emerged as the WTO director-general on February 15, 2021, becoming the first woman and also African to lead the trade organisation.

Upon her confirmation as the WTO DG in 2021, she listed her priorities to include getting long-blocked trade talks on fishery subsidies across the finish line and breathing life back into WTO’s Appellate Body.

Twice Nigeria’s finance minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and its first female foreign minister in a two-month stint in 2006, Okonjo-Iweala is seen as a trailblazer in her homeland.

The Delta-born also brushed off claims that she lacked experience as a trade minister or negotiator.