Who is the new Director-General of the WTO?

Introduction

On the 15th February 2021, the General Council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) selected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the organisation’s seventh Director-General. When she took office on 1st March 2021, Dr Okonjo-Iweala became the first woman and the first African to hold this position.

What is the WTO?

The WTO is the global international organisation which sets the rules of trade between nations. The goal is to ensure free and fair global trade of goods and services by lowering trade barriers between the WTO’s 164 member states.  

What does the WTO do?

At the heart of the WTO’s system – known as the multilateral trading system – are the WTO’s agreements. These are negotiated and signed by the organisation’s member states and form the legal foundations of global trade. Through these agreements, WTO members operate a non-discriminatory trading system. Members receive guarantees that their exports will be treated fairly by other states. In return, they promise to treat imports into their own markets fairly. This means that they will not use tariffs to give their own products an advantage.

The WTO gives developing economies flexibility in implementing their commitments and all agreements contain special provisions. This is important because over three-quarters of WTO members are developing or least-developed economies.

Who is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala?

Before being chosen as Director-General, Dr Okonjo-Iweala held several influential positions. She was the managing director of the World Bank, overseeing $81 billion worth of operations. She has served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and once as Foreign Minister.  Also, she was the first woman to hold both positions. As finance minister, she tackled $30 billion of her country’s debt. She led reform to increase transparency of government accounts and reduce corruption.

What challenges does she now face?

In an interview with CNN, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said that the WTO needs, “a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone with the capability to implement reforms and to work with members to make sure the WTO comes out of the partial paralysis that it’s in”.

For years, the WTO has made little progress on major international trade agreements. At the same time, the WTO’s dispute settlement system has come to a halt. Dr Okonjo-Iweala hopes to resolve these problems. She has also raised environmental issues, and has made fishing subsidies talks one of her priorities, to show that the WTO can still produce results.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala also hopes to give the WTO a role in fighting back against the Covid-19 pandemic by supporting Covax, the global vaccine programme that ensures access for poorer countries.

 

Conclusion

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s election to become the new Director-General of the WTO matters for Africa, for women, and for the world. She is highly qualified to guide the WTO through the challenges it faces – internally and externally. The WTO is seriously in need of reform if the world is to continue benefiting from its rules. This is a tough task, but if the new Director-General succeeds, she has the opportunity to make a huge difference.

RIOGHNACH THEAKSTON

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