WTO Accepts Nomination of Okonjo-Iweala as DG Despite Opposition from Egypt

• The WTO has accepted the nomination of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as one of the candidates for the position of Director-General for the organisation.
• World Trade Organization made this known on their official Twitter handle on Tuesday evening June 9, 2020.
• Egypt stated that the African Union executive had set a deadline of 30th November 2019 for the submission of nominations for African countries which Nigeria’s nomination has breached. However, the WTO responded that the nomination process actually opened on 8 June 2020 and ended on 8 July, contrary to what Egypt referenced.

The WTO has accepted the nomination of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as one of the candidates for the position of the organisation’s Director-General.

The WTO has opened nominations for a successful candidate to succeed the current Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevedo, who will step down on 31 August 2020, one year in advance.

This was revealed in the tweet of the World Trade Organization on their official Twitter handle on Tuesday evening June 9, 2020.

The tweet from WTO read, “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Board of Gavi and Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, has been nominated by Nigeria as a candidate for the post of WTO Director-General.”

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Board of Gavi and Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, has been nominated by #Nigeria as a candidate for the post of WTO Director-General. https://t.co/mGZoU1A2pS@NOIweala @TradeInvestNG @NigeriaMFA #WTODG pic.twitter.com/GakWkAIqCf

— WTO (@wto) June 9, 2020

There had been earlier reports about the nomination of Okonjo-Iweala by President Muhammadu Buhari and the consequent protest against it by Egypt on the basis that the nominations period had elapsed.

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Egypt stated that the African Union executive had set a deadline of 30th November 2019 for the submission of nominations for African countries, so Nigeria’s nomination breached that.

However, the WTO came out to say that the nomination process actually opened on 8 June 2020 and ended on 8 July, contrary to the reference from Egypt.

The statement from WTO says, “The nomination period ends on 8 July. Learn more about the process to select the next Director-General of WTO.”

The WTO states that the candidates will be invited to speak with members at a special general council meeting after the nomination process is closed, to discuss their views and to answer questions from the membership.

Other nominees for the position to date include Mexico’s Mr. Jesús Seade Kuri and Egypt’s Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, a world-renowned economist and expert on international development, currently sits on the boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, Global Vaccine and Immunization Alliance, and African Risk Capacity.