Fresh Trouble For Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Trump Rejects Her Appointment, Supports Yoo Myung-hee

Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a household name as far as the political sphere of Nigeria and Africa at large is concerned. 66 Year Old Ngozi served as Minister of Finance and also as Minister of Foreign Affairs under successive PDP administrations before moving to serve on the board of the World Bank.

Over the last couple of months, she has been in the running to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO) along Yoo Myung-hee, who is currently South Korea’s Trade minister.

And on Wednesday, 28th of October 2020, a WTO nominations committee recommended her appointment after the group’s 164 members were all in support of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

If her appointment is confirmed, she would be the first woman and also the first African to head the World Trade Organization.

However, there seems to be concerns and doubts over the ratification of her appointment as the United States have written to the WTO to announce their support for her opponent; Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea stating that the WTO needs reforms and that the South Korean is the one capable to lead that reformation.

The official statement from the US Trade Representative (Donald Trump’s Adviser on Trade policy) states that “the organization must be led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field”.

It further stated that Ms Yoo had “distinguished herself” as a trade expert and “has all the skills necessary to be an effective leader of the organisation”.

It added: “This is a very difficult time for the WTO and international trade. There have been no multilateral tariff negotiations in 25 years, the dispute settlement system has gotten out of control, and too few members fulfill basic transparency obligations. The WTO is badly in need of major reform”.

Here is the full letter:

Spokesman of WTO, Keith Rockwell had as at on Wednesday said just one member country did not support Dr. Ngozi’s appointment; it now appears that country is the United States of America.

The WTO has now called a meeting to be held on the 9th of November, 2020 just after the US presidential election to discuss the issue.

The good news is that Donald Trump or the US alone cannot stop Ngozi from emerging as the head of the WTO as she has the full support of the European Union but the fact remains that Washington has great influence over the final decision which may yet proof to be a stumbling block to her emergence.

Presently, there are issues between China and the US as regards trade operations and if Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is finally appointed as the Director General of the WTO, she would have enough on her hands to deal with. However, there are no doubt about her readiness and capacity to steer the way as she has demonstrated astute prowess in her roles to Nigeria, the world Bank and other organizations where she serves over her over 25 years career.