Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s quest to become both the first African and woman to be named Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has suffered a setback after the United States Government led by President Donald Trump strongly opposed her emergence.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, a former Nigerian Minister of finance became a US citizen in 2019 after spending several decades working and studying in the country.
The Harvard-trained economist had seemed destined as consensus candidate on Wednesday for the WTO top job.
However, in a shocking twist, Washington declared its support for South Korean Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-hee, as the ideal candidate to succeed Brazilian diplomat, Roberto Avezedo, who stepped down in August.
Twenty-seven members of the European Union had on Tuesday declared their support for the Nigerian to lead the WTO
The 55 members of the African Union had also thrown their weight behind the ex-World Bank managing director’s bid to occupy the WTO director-general’s position.
The U.S. made its position known in a statement through the Office of the US trade representative on the WTO DG selection process.
The United States said Yoo Myung-hee is “Drona fide trade expert who has distinguished herself during a 25-year career as a successful trade negotiator and trade policymaker.”
The statement said the minister has all the skills necessary to be an effective leader of the organization.
“This is a very difficult time for the WTO and international trade,” the statement said.
“There have been no multilateral tariff negotiations in 25 years, the dispute settlement system has gotten out of control, and too few members fulfil basic transparency obligations”.
Although the U.S. did not mention Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, it, however, said that “The WTO is badly in need of major reform. It must be led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field.”
The WTO spokesman, Keith Rockwell, confirmed the US choice of the South Korean candidate for the exalted seat.
He told journalists on Wednesday that the 27 delegations had taken the floor for the day’s meeting.
Rockwell said: “One delegation could not support the candidacy of Dr. Ngozi and said they would continue (supporting) South Korean minister Yoo.
“That delegation was the United States of America.”
