By Spy Uganda
Nigeria’s former Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the last woman standing in the race to become the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation after South Korea’s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee withdrew on 5 February.
The race for the job has been frozen since 6 November when it emerged that Okonjo-Iweala had support from over 70% of the WTO members but President Donald Trump’s government insisted it would veto her candidacy and back Minister Yoo instead.
At that point, the WTO administrators suspended the election process indefinitely. Diplomats in Geneva said that decision was to see whether the US would change its position if Trump lost the presidential election that month.
With Joe Biden’s victory in the US Presidential election, it looks certain that Washington will recognise Okonjo-Iweala’s victory in the WTO race. News reports from South Korea on 5 February said that Yoo’s decision to withdraw was made in “close consultation with the United States”.
The Biden administration is yet to confirm that it will back Okonjo-Iweala for the WTO leadership but Washington insiders say it is just a matter of time. In Biden’s first foreign policy speech on 4 February, he heralded the US’ return to multilateralism and cooperation with its allies (most of whom had voted for Okonjo-Iweala at the WTO).
If Biden does back Okonjo-Iweala it will be his third repudiation of Trump’s policies on multilateral organisations: first, Biden took the US back into the Paris Climate Accord, and then he rejoined the World Health Organization.
Former senior US officials are urging Biden to support Okonjo-Iweala, who is believed to be tough enough to undertake the difficult job of unblocking the deadlock in the organisation over the adjudication of trade disputes and the appellate court system.
The former head of the WTO, Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo, stepped down a year before his mandate was due to end, frustrated the logjam in the organisation as the US and China were locked in disputes amid a mood of rising economic nationalism.
On paper, the WTO administrators had been due to meet in March on the election. But after Minister Yoo’s withdrawal, Okonjo-Iweala could take over much sooner than that.
Although the job is a difficult one, it is a great opportunity, particularly due to the synchronicity with the launching of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). This, if all goes to plan, will be the biggest geographical trading bloc in the world.
As the leader of the WTO, Okonjo-Iweala can ensure that Africa is not left out of important discussions and policies, more important than ever now due to the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the youngest and fastest-growing continent in the world, Africa’s population will be of critical importance to the international system over the coming decades, as its economies accelerate from their current low base. To have an African economist at the helm of global trade policy is a great strategic win for the continent.
As soon as the US formally drops its veto against Okonjo-Iweala’s role as the new Director-General the WTO, the really hard work will start: trying to rebuild a consensus around multilateral trade cooperation in an era of cut-throat economic nationalism.
