58 Countries Support Okonjo-Iweala For Second Term As WTO Director-General

Fifty-eight out of the 164 member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have expressed their support for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to serve a second term as Director-General.

The support was announced at a WTO General Council meeting on Monday, July 22, according to a statement from the WTO.

The statement noted that the African Group has requested that Okonjo-Iweala be available for a second term and proposed that the reappointment process should start soon.

During the meeting, 58 members, including some representing groups of members, voiced their support for this proposal.

They urged Okonjo-Iweala to announce her intentions for a second term soon and praised her hard work and achievements during her first term.

“The African Group requests that the current Director-General make herself available to serve a second term, and has proposed that the process of reappointing the Director-General should be started as soon as possible,” the statement partly read.

“Fifty-eight members, several speaking on behalf of groups of members, took the floor to comment and express their support for the African Group proposal.

“They called on DG Okonjo-Iweala to make her intentions regarding a second term known as soon as possible. Most of these members praised the DG’s hard work and her achievements during her first term.”

Okonjo-Iweala, 70, expressed her gratitude for the support and said she would seriously consider the members’ request.

The WTO DG promised to inform them of her decision shortly.

“Everything that I’ve accomplished, we’ve accomplished together. I will get back to members very soon regarding my intentions,” she said.

Okonjo-Iweala became the WTO Director-General on March 1, 2021, with her term set to end on August 31, 2025. She is eligible for a second term.

Before her current role, Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and briefly as Foreign Minister, being the first woman to hold both positions.

She also had a 25-year career at the World Bank, where she rose to the position of Managing Director, Operations.

KanyiDaily recalls that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently celebrated a 3-year-old girl who, on career day at school, dressed in an outfit replicating her own.