The WTO’s General
Council Chair, David Walker of New Zealand, who announced the shortlist of
three candidates, said Mrs Okonjo-Iweala would be squaring up against the
Mexican representative, Jesús Seade Kuri, and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt.
The announcement of
the former World Bank Managing Director and two-time Nigerian minister by the
organisation is coming against a stiff opposition.
President Muhammadu
Buhari’s nomination of the former minister last Thursday to replace the current
deputy Director General of WTO, Yonov Frederick Agah, as Nigeria’s nominee
caused a stir.
Shortly after her
nomination, the Egyptian government wrote to the African Union (AU) and United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa to demand that
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala be disqualified, as she was coming into the race after three
candidates had already been shortlisted.
The three candidates
included Eloi Laourou of the Republic of Benin, Abdulhameed Mamdouh of the Arab
Republic of Egypt Arab Republic, and Mr Agah of Nigeria.
With the withdrawal
of Mr Agah’s candidature, the Egyptian government said it was requesting the
Ministerial Committee on Candidatures to officially inform the African Group in
Geneva about the development and Nigeria’s disqualification.
Mr Walker said the
release of the three-member candidates’ shortlist was in line with the
procedures for appointing the WTO Director-General as described in document
WT/L/509.
The procedures
included that WTO members would be informed of nominations of candidates as
soon as they are received from their countries.
On May 20, 2020, Mr
Walker said the appointment process for the next Director-General would
formally commence on June 8 with nominations accepted till July 8.
After July 8, Mr
Walker said he would issue to members a consolidated list of all the
candidates, while candidates would be invited to meet with members at a special
General Council meeting shortly after the nomination period has closed.
During the meeting,
the candidates would be allowed to present their views and take questions from
members.
Okonjo-Iweala’s
profile
A renowned global
finance expert, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala is an economist and international development
professional with over 30 years-experience, having worked in Asia, Africa,
Europe, Latin America and North America.
She is currently the
Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; a member of the Boards of
Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc, and was recently appointed as African
Union (AU) Special Envoy to mobilise International Financial Support in the
fight against COVID-19, as well as Special Envoy for the World Health
Organization’s Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
Twice Nigeria’s
finance minister (2003-2006) and (2011-2015), Mrs Okonjo-Iweala also served
briefly as Nigeria’s foreign minister in 2006, the first Nigerian woman to hold
both positions.
She had a 25-year
career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the position of
managing director (operations).
As finance minister,
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala steered Nigeria through a varying degree of reforms,
particularly on macroeconomic, trade, financial and real sector issues.
As managing director
(operations) at the World Bank, her several portfolios included oversight
responsibility for the Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolios in Africa,
South Asia, Europe and Central Asia.
She spearheaded
several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the
2008-2009 food crisis and later in the trying period of the global financial
crisis.
In 2010, Mrs
Okonjo-Iweala served as chair of the World Bank’s successful drive to raise
$49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the poorest countries of
the world.
President Buhari
used the memo to solicit the support of AU member-States, as well as Permanent
Missions and Embassies in Addis Ababa for Mrs Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy during
the elections.
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