Nigeria’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, could still emerge the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, despite America’s opposition to her candidacy.
Efforts by the WTO’s to select a new DG by consensus failed on Wednesday after the United States vetoed the process.
This setback came after Okonjo-Iweala received a key endorsement earlier Wednesday from the WTO selection committee despite the U.S.’s expressions of support for Yoo. The EU, Japan, and much of Africa and Latin America are pushing for Okonjo-Iweala.
If it’s not possible for the General Council to agree on a consensus candidate, WTO members could consider holding a vote to select the next WTO director-general by a qualified majority. Okonjo-Iweala would likely win such a vote.
Deputy US Trade Representative, Dennis Shea, explained that Washington won’t join a consensus to appoint Okonjo-Iweala because the US supported her opponent, South Korean trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee, according to WTO spokesman, Keith Rockwell.
The spokesman said that Okonjo-Iweala had received the biggest support across regions and along levels of development.
US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, supported Yoo even though Okonjo-Iweala gained American citizenship in 2019.
Lighthizer sees konjo-Iweala, a longtime top official at the World Bank, as being too close to pro-trade internationalists like Robert Zoellick, a former USTR from the Bush administration, who worked with her when he was president of the ank.
A win by Okonjo-Iweala would make her the first female and African to occupy the highest seat at the WTO.
That would offer hope for Africa trade, says Michael Nderitu Head of Trading, AZA
“Even in the face of US opposition, the World Trade Organization’s majority support for Nigerian former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director General marks a potential sea change in the body that sets the rules for global commerce,” Nderitu said in an emailed statement Thursday.
“A WTO under Ngozi would throw a spotlight on Africa’s plans to build the world’s biggest free trade area through AfCFTA. Her leadership could help reduce reliance on imports that Africa could be producing on home soil, and focus minds on ways to ensure those products Africa exports to the global market fetch fair value. As the world stands united behind Ngozi’s leadership, a new US presidency must surely yield to the overwhelming collective will of nations,” he said.
The final decision on the choice of the winner is set for Nov. 9, a week after the US election, and is expected to set the course for terms of trade negotiations for years to come.
WTO decisions are made by a consensus of its 164 members, which means a single country — especially the world’s largest economy — can create a stalemate to pressure others. The Geneva-based institution will however keep working to reach a consensus ahead of meeting of the General Council tentatively set for November 9.
“The selection of the WTO director-general is critical for the future of the organization,” the European Commission, the EU’s Brussels-based executive arm, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “There are now two candidates announced as finalists, both strong and experienced. It is now for WTO members to make their final choice, which will happen over the next days.”
The U.S. election, which falls on November 3, is now a key factor in the WTO race and the institution’s search for direction that seemed to be nearing a conclusion is now getting tangled in American politics.
Should Trump win, his aides have indicated they plan to continue to reshape the WTO with a narrower scope to resolve trade disputes.
If on the other hand former Vice President Joe Biden emerges victorious, there are chances the WTO members will postpone the meeting until after the inauguration on Jan. 20.
