London, Nov. 9, GNA – A meeting scheduled for Monday that would have confirmed Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as the 7th Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was postponed until further notice.
David Walker, the chairman of the WTO’s General Council, said that during the postponement he would “continue undertaking consultations with delegations”.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala was set to become the first woman and first African to head the global trade watchdog in its 25-year history.
After Roberto Azevedo stepped down at the end of August, a year before the end of his official term as WTO boss, members of the organisation indicated a strong preference for Dr Okonjo-Iweala.
But last month the Trump administration said it would continue to support Yoo Myung-hee from South Korea for the position and could not back the candidacy of the Nigerian economist.
The outcome of the US presidential has now put the process of selecting the next head of the WTO on hold.
After a Heads of Delegation meeting on October 28, Mr Walker said about Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s selection: “She clearly carried the largest support by members in the final round and she clearly enjoyed broad support from members from all levels of development and all geographic regions and has done so throughout the process.
“I am therefore submitting the name of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the candidate most likely to attract consensus and recommending her appointment by the General Council as the next Director-General of the WTO until August 31, 2024,” he said.
Mr Walker stressed that this was the assessment of the “troika” of facilitators and that a formal decision had to be taken by the members at a General Council meeting, which he had scheduled for November 9, but has since been postponed indefinitely.
Eight candidates had participated in the DG selection process until this figure was whittled down to Dr Okonjo-Iweala and Ms Yoo, both of whom had advanced to the third round.
“The entire membership remained fully engaged in and committed to this process,” Mr Walker said.
“The facilitators and I are grateful for this consistently very positive response.
“Throughout the process it has been clear that all members have attached the greatest importance to this appointment,” he added.
The General Council is the WTO’s pre-eminent decision-making body, meeting regularly in Geneva.
GNA