WTO members support African Group’s proposal for Okonjo-Iweala’s second term bid

Fifty-eight World Trade Organization (WTO) members have supported a proposal from the African Group, urging Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to pursue a second four-year term. 

This information was shared in a statement released by the WTO on its website on Monday, July 2024. 

According to the statement, 58 WTO members expressed their support during a meeting of the WTO General Council on July 22. 

They endorsed the African Group’s call for an early start to the Director-General selection process and requested Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be available for a second term.  

“Fifty-eight WTO members took the floor at a 22 July meeting of the WTO General Council to voice support for a proposal from the African Group calling for an early start to the Director-General selection process and asking the incumbent, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to make herself available to serve a second term,” the statement read in part. 

The statement further highlighted those fifty-eight members, including several representing groups, who voiced their comments and support for the African Group’s proposal. They urged DG Okonjo-Iweala to declare her intentions for a second term as soon as possible, with many praising her hard work and achievements during her first term. 

DG Okonjo-Iweala expressed her gratitude for the members’ support, saying: “Everything that I’ve accomplished, we’ve accomplished together.”  

She acknowledged the members’ call for her to seek a second term, indicating that she was favourably inclined and promised to inform them of her decision soon. 

General Council Chair Petter Ølberg (Norway) recognized the unanimous, broad, and strong support for both DG Okonjo-Iweala’s availability for a second term and the immediate start of the reappointment process. He assured that he would engage with delegations in the coming days and weeks. 

What you should know 

Nairametrics previously reported that the African Group, consisting of 44 African member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and nine observers, requested WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to run for a second term as head of the global trade watchdog. This request was highlighted in a statement reported by Reuters. 

“The African Group is of the view that it would be in the best interest of the Organization if the process of reappointment were to start early,” a portion of the document read. 

She became the seventh Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on March 1, 2021. She is the first woman and the first African to lead the organization. Her current term will end on August 31, 2025. 

Okonjo-Iweala is a distinguished global finance expert, economist, and international development professional with over 40 years of experience spanning Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America. 

She served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister twice (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly as Foreign Minister in 2006, making history as the first woman to hold both positions.