Nigeria’s former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has received a major boost in her bid to become the first woman and African to lead the global trade group World Trade Organisation.
Reuters is reporting that a key group of WTO ambassadors has proposed her to lead the trade body.
Reuters, on Wednesday, citing sources reports that this proposal by the ambassadors liter clears a path for her to head the global watchdog in its 25-year history.
According to the proposal, which still needs full WTO approval, caps a more than four-month selection process involving intensive lobbying which saw her square up against South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee in the final round.
Reuters further reported that the recommendation of former finance minister Okonjo-Iweala was made by three WTO ambassadors, the so-called “troika”, after consulting with members in a series of closed-door meetings in Geneva as part of an intricate and opaque process that some have compared to a papal succession.
It still needs to be approved by consensus at a meeting of the WTO’s 164 members.
A few days earlier Okonjo-Iweala has received the endorsement of the European Union countries, a major block in the WTO.
The Nigerian candidate who was one-time number two person as Managing Director (Operations) in World Bank hierarchy is expected to bring her verse be experience in negotiations and recent works in the area of health to bear in navigating the intricate business of doing deals among economies of the world.
