Okonjo Iweala: Another Black Woman Set To Make History

Yass! you read that right.Okonjo Iweala is set to take over not only as a black woman at the World Trade Organization, but she’d be making history as the first of many; first black woman to head the WTO, first female Director-General, and first African Director-General.

Furthermore, this incredible feat is set to be unraveled by none other than the majestic Okonjo-Iweala, two-time finance minister in Nigeria, former MD operations at the World bank, Former board chair for Gavi, a Vaccine Alliance that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against deadly and debilitating diseases.

The process to see Okonjo-Iweala succeed as DG has been deadlocked for months now, following Roberto Azevedo’s decision to step down from his position at the WTO. In August, Roberto Azevêdo stepped down from his position, a year earlier than his term was set to end. This too, amidst an escalating trade dispute between the United States and China.

From the race with Myung-Hee, the restrictions of the Corona-virus, and Trump’s administration’s opposition to Iweala’s Ascension as WTO-DG, it’s been a competitive challenge and a tough ride to see who will finally take the prize home.

Back in October, Key professionals and financial ambassadors of the WTO suggested that Okonjo-Iweala is the only and best candidate to continue the leadership of the WTO DG. But with the US opposition at that time, it appeared that Okonjo would need more than brains, qualifications, and experience to win the competition.

Only recently, the new US president and his vice, Kamala Harris, released a statement indicating their full support for Okonjo-Iweala. The statement from the US Trade Representative read thus:

“The Biden-Harris Administration is pleased to express its strong support for the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director-General of the WTO. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala 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. She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership.

The United States stands ready to engage in the next phase of the WTO process for reaching a consensus decision on the WTO Director-General. The Biden-Harris Administration looks forward to working with a new WTO Director-General to find paths forward to achieve necessary substantive and procedural reform of the WTO.”

This new turn of events suddenly changed the game in Okonjo-Iweala’s favor. With the US announcement and approval to back her ambitions to DG, it’s been a series of momentary celebrations for Okonjo, Africa, and the Black World.

Following approval by the Biden/Harris administration, Yoo Myung-Hee (who had the Trump administration backing initially) took to announcing on Friday 5, February 2021, her decision to withdraw from the competitive race for WTO-DG.

Although this announcement was not followed with any solid reason or justification, experts say this action might have been followed by the US decision to withdraw their support with the new administration.

Okonjo-Iweala, on the other hand, reacted to the news of our support in a tweet that stated:

“Grateful for the expression of support from the US today.”

In August, Okonjo-Iweala told CNN that trade would be vital to salvaging economies from the Corona-virus pandemic.

“The WTO needs a leader at this time. It needs a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone with the capability to implement reforms and to work with members to make sure the WTO comes out of the partial paralysis that it’s in”

We hope that when the finals are declared in March, Okonjo-Iweala, as described by her wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy, would emerge as the new WTO-DG.

All images are sourced from Twitter.com