WTO: Okonjo-Iweala In trouble, as US opposes Consensus candidate
Thompson Nsisongabasi
Oct 28, 2020
The United States has opposed Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the consensus candidate to lead the World Trade Organisation.
The PUNCH reports that key WTO ambassadors tapped Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday as the best pick to lead the organisation.
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But the US said it supported South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, who is Okonjo-Iweala's opponent in the race to lead the WTO.
WTO spokesman, Keith Rockwell, was quoted by AFP as saying 27 delegations had taken the floor during Wednesday's meeting.
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"One delegation could not support the candidacy of Dr. Nogzi and said they would continue (supporting) South Korean minister Yoo. That delegation was the United States of America," he added.
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Rockwell, however, said Wednesday's meeting "was never intended to make a final decision on our next DG."
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"That decision can only be taken by the General Council," he added.
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With the US' opposition, the WTO's 164 member states still need to determine whether they will support her before their next General Council meeting on November 9.
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The PUNCH earlier reported that the troika of ambassadors heading the World Trade Organization's three main branches determined after four months of consultations with member states that Okonjo-Iweala was the most likely to obtain the consensus needed to take the top job.
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The initial pool of eight candidates for the WTO's top post had been whittled down to just two over two previous rounds of consultations, with only Okonjo-Iweala and Myung-hee left in the race.
Okonjo-Iweala, 66, who served as Nigeria's first female finance and foreign minister, has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist at the World Bank.
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"I feel the wind behind my back," she told a virtual press briefing after the 55-member African Union officially supported her.
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Okonjo-Iweala, who also serves on Twitter's board of directors, as chair of the GAVI vaccine alliance and as a special envoy for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 fight, saw her candidacy get another boost this week when the EU threw its weight behind her.
If she eventually gets a majority backing, she would be the first woman and the first African to lead the global trade body in its 25-year history.
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SOURCE
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— Thompson Nsisongabasi