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History was made on Monday, 15th February 2021 when Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as the Director General of the World Trade Organization- the entity responsible for global trade agreements. This makes her the first woman, and African, to head the multilateral trade body from March 1 2021 to August 31 2025. “The decision was taken by consensus at a special meeting today of the organization's General Council,” said an official.
Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian who was the Minister of Finance of Nigeria, as well as being a World Bank Economist. Her experience in international development allowed her to become Managing Director of the World Bank. She was educated at Queen’s School, Enugu, St. Anne’s School, Molete - in the city of Ibadan -, and the International School of Ibadan. In 1973, she arrived in the US as a teenager and student of Harvard University. She graduated magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976. In 1981, she earned her PhD in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a thesis titled, “Credit Policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria’s agricultural development.”
Despite having been endorsed by almost all members of the WTO, however, the US, under the Trump Administration, had blocked her appointment back in October.
After his inauguration, Joe Biden and his administration extended the US’ support and endorsement of Okonjo-Iweala. Okonjo-Iweala said that, as a matter of importance, she will be looking to curb the economic fallout and health crisis wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"[She] brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy from her 25 years with the World Bank and two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister," the Feb. 5 statement read. "She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership."
“A strong WTO is vital if we are to recover fully and rapidly from the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said, “I look forward to working with members to shape and implement the policy responses we need to get the global economy going again” also adding that the WTO faces many challenges. She heads the organization at a time when member countries question the WTO’s objectivity with regard to the distribution of vaccines to India and South Africa. While the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property) Agreement seeks to ensure the protection of Intellectual Property, the WTO was asked to be more of a humanitarian force in such uncertain and unprecedented times.
Critics of the organization have also stated that the WTO has failed to intervene in cases where China breached protectionist measures such as export rules, leading to the United States labelling its economic adversary a “currency manipulator” and threatening billions of dollars in tariffs on goods from China. That announcement by the US Treasury in August last year was because of a sharp, sudden fall in the Chinese yuan’s value against the dollar. This sudden fall came only a week after China had pledged to retaliate against the US, as the then-President Donald Trump vowed to impose 10% tariffs on $300bn of Chinese imports.
The process for selecting a new Director General was triggered on May 15, 2020 when the former Director General, Roberto Azevêdo, stepped down via a virtual meeting.