By Nigeria’s candidate for the position of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been selected as one of the two female candidates to proceed to the final stage in the race to lead the Geneva-based global trade body.
The other is South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, a former Nigerian finance and foreign minister Okonjo-Iweala, is an economist and development specialist now serving as board chair of global vaccine alliance Gavi. She has said the WTO should play a role in helping poorer countries access COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.
Yoo, 53, South Korea’s trade minister, is pitching herself as an experienced operator on trade in challenging times after clinching deals with the United States, China and others, while supporting global rules.
Both received backing from the 27 countries of the European Union this week. The other countries of the 164-member WTO have generally not revealed which names they put forward in the second round that ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 6.
The WTO is looking for a new director-general to replace Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down a year earlier than expected at the end of August. It aims to find a successor by early November.
