Professor Maurice Okoli

Moving forward with women’s empowerment, exhibiting female leadership and entrepreneurial capabilities, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed as the sole candidate for the World Trade Organization arguably represents the voice of the Global South and concretely the voice of Africa. Okonjo-Iweala brings unique strengths that complement traditional notions of female leadership, casting away outdated stereotypes and embracing a future full of aspirations for the powerful World Trade Organization.

By her leading roles at the WTO underscores, in many ways, the assertiveness and ability of what women could contribute in their professions to the development of society, especially in the spheres of global trade. Despite these attributes, Okonjo-Iweala as head of WTO highlights the fact that women possess the same abilities to perform with effectiveness in the field of economic and trade diplomacy.

As nominations for the next Director-General closed in early November, and Okonjo-Iweala was ultimately confirmed as the sole candidate, it offers practical grounds, at least, to celebrate her previous first-term satisfactory progress and milestone achievements on the global stage as an African, as a Nigerian citizen. Her typical African name alone resonates across the global landscape, not only portraying her distinguished career but also exposing diverse experience in fostering multifaceted trade partnerships and its associated challenges between the organization’s members in the world.

According to reports, Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, Chair of the General Council, informed WTO members on 9th November that no further nominations for the position of Director-General had been received by the deadline of 8th November and that the incumbent Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is therefore the only candidate for the role.

Director-General Okonjo-Iweala confirmed her willingness to serve a second four-year term. Okonjo-Iweala’s current term comes to an end on 31 August 2025, as the first woman, the first African is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. The WTO formally commenced the process of appointing its next Director-General, with members given until 8 November to submit nominations.

In July 2024, Okonjo-Iweala garnered unprecedented support to serve a second term at the 164 member states trade organization. In an official media release after the July 22 meeting, the WTO General Council indicated that fifty-eight (58) of the 164 member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have voiced support for a proposal from the African Group backing incumbent Director-General, Okonjo-Iweala, to serve a second term.

As stipulated by the guidelines, the Director-General can serve two terms. Almost all members pointed to all the efforts and qualities of Okonjo-Iweala and her contributions to the organization which enhanced a lot of progress and development. Okonjo-Iweala, whose tenure as the DG due to end on 31st August 2025, revealed her plans to work with other members of the organization to restructure the global trade body.

“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,” according to the statement by the world trade body.

“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,” it further added.

Okonjo-Iweala’s First-Term Achievements

(i) In the current emerging situation, the WTO’s task of changing the world’s trade is fraught with existing challenges and further hindered by geopolitics mostly by the key players. A classical example is the United States and China trade war, better considered as an economic conflict between two powers has persisted since January 2018 when Donald Trump, began setting tariffs and other trade barriers on China to force it to make changes to what the U.S. described as longstanding unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft. Washington has imposed tariffs on more than $360bn of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated with tariffs on more than $110bn of US products. WTO’s trade advocacy has had little influence in resolving this bilateral agreement initially signed by and binding on the United States and China.

(ii) As already know, the United States and Europe have a number of disagreements over economic relations between Russia and the former Soviet republics in the entire region. It was, however, expected that the trade organization work seriously and systematically to guarantee a rules-based international trading system. Despite the impasse in trade negotiations, and ways to modernize WTO rules and address the impending misunderstandings, much, unfortunately, remains to be reviewed. The European Union, for instance, continues to play a leading role in the WTO’s ongoing reform process, which was launched at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) in June 2022. Okonjo-Iweala has to address these persistent conflicts during her second term in office beginning in 2025.

(iii) The situation with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN is not different from other regions. Okonjo-Iweala’s accession to the leadership of WTO four years ago was viewed as a turning point in the process of the Asian region’s integration, under the export-oriented growth regime, into the world’s trading landscape. Without mincing words here, it has to be noted that APEC and ASEAN play a major role in the world’s biggest trading bloc, and are at the centre of addressing emerging economic challenges facing the global trading system, to develop actionable policy recommendations, because more than 60% of the collective trade are targeted towards western and European markets.

(vi) On July 26, 2024, during the meeting of BRICS Economy and Foreign Trade Ministers in Moscow, representatives of BRICS economies agreed to coordinate their policies within the WTO. BRICS economies are increasingly moving towards coordinating their policies on the international stage, including in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In an analytical report, Yaroslav Lissovolik, Founder of BRICS+ Analytics, believes that key priorities are necessary for the creation of a BRICS platform within the WTO include supporting the organization’s viability and effectiveness in resolving trade disputes (given the challenges faced in the operation of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body) as well as in countering rising protectionism. The creation of a common platform in the WTO should contribute to greater economic policy coordination for BRICS economies in the trade sphere and will also allow developing economies to play a greater role in the organization’s decision-making.

Advocating further for greater policy coordination and backing away from a long-standing call to action, which has been in process and discussions since 2017, “BRICS+ countries could … form alliances in other international organizations, including the WTO, where a BRICS+ group in negotiations could complement other South-South alliances.” Indeed, “after Russia’s WTO accession all BRICS members are now in the WTO and can create partnerships within the organization to defend national interests, advance sustainable development issues and counter the spectre of rising global protectionism.”

Another area of cooperation for BRICS in the WTO may be the provision of assistance to those BRICS core economies and partners of the grouping that have not yet secured full-fledged WTO membership. While until 2023 all BRICS core economies were members of the WTO, after the 2023-2024 core expansion two new BRICS members, namely Ethiopia and Iran, were still outside of the trade organization. A number of potential members of the BRICS partnership status, such as Belarus or Algeria, are also not yet full members of the WTO. In this respect, the WTO could target coordinated measures to support the accession process of those who have not yet secured WTO membership.

WTO and the African Union

WTO members and leading reputable investors have consistently been looking forward to exploring several opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a policy signed by African countries to make the continent a single market. The AfCFTA, the world’s largest new free trade area, is the flagship of the African Union, and its significance cannot be overstated.  It certainly promises to increase intra-African trade through deeper levels of trade liberalization and enhanced regulatory harmonization and coordination. Moreover, it is expected to improve the competitiveness of African industries and enterprises through increased market access, the exploitation of economies of scale, and more effective resource allocation.

In fact, this should be one potential area of focus for Okonjo-Iweala as she heads for the second term unopposed. During her first term, she unreservedly expressed interest in dealing with these issues of strengthening partnerships and widening stronger trade relationships with Africa from the external players, and members of the WTO. There still exists controversy between the WTO and AU’s AfCFTA. A more consolidated approach to the continent’s trade policy may strengthen the role of the developing countries, especially the majority of those in Africa, in the WTO and advance the agenda of the Global South. With the emerging multipolar arrangement, it is necessary to facilitate external trade for Africa. This particularly has important positive implications for its inclusion into the world system, supports its economic power and ultimately raises its economic status closer to the Asian and Western world, and the G20.

The Group of Twenty (G20)

Over the past years, G20 economies, however, continued to introduce wide-ranging trade-facilitating measures, and increasing evidence points to enforcing unilateral trade policy decisions. Warning that these measures are creating uncertainty for the world economy, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on G20 governments to refrain from adopting new restrictions that could worsen the global economic outlook.

Potential investors have also indicated several times, trade facilitation and called for smooth pathways into the African continent, their involvement could be beneficial to them, including in sectors like pharmaceuticals, automobiles, agro-processing and financial technology. The G20 and Africa, regulated by the WTO policies could offer sustainable growth and symbolize an integral part and essential component in the emerging multipolar economic architecture.

Professional Experience Matches Responsibility?

In these changing times, Okonjo-Iweala’s official thoughtful testimony to pursue WTO’s Director-General responsibilities, as outlined prior to her engagement, has become uttermost necessary to review outstanding challenges and their consequences for the African continent’s development, and those in the Asia-Pacific region within the entire global trading system. Vying for Director-General, for the second term, should not be considered a ceremonial position, but entails promoting transformation, through increased market access, and increasing the relationship between Africa and Asia (South-South) in global trade, and the rest of the world.

She served two terms as Finance Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) under the political leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan, respectively. She also briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. The skilled negotiator had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the number two position of Managing Director of Operations.

Biographical records show she was born into a royal family in Delta State, her father Professor Chukwuka Okonjo became the Eze (King) from the Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Ukwu. With high aspirations, Okonjo-Iweala studied at prestigious Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude with an AB in Economics in 1976. In 1981, she earned her PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a thesis titled Credit Policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria’s agricultural development. She received an International Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that supported her doctoral studies.

Selection Procedures

On 28-29 November, the General Council will convene a special meeting aimed at advancing the process for selecting the next Director-General. Chaired by Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, the meeting follows the announcement made on 9th November that no candidates for the position of Director-General had emerged by the 8th November nomination deadline other than the incumbent Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

In his communication to members, Ambassador Ølberg said that, based on his contacts with delegations, and as has been done in past instances where the incumbent Director-General was the only candidate, he intends to convene a special formal meeting of the General Council on 28th and 29th November.

The first day of the General Council meeting would allow members to hear a presentation from DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her vision for the WTO, followed by a question-and-answer session. The second day could then provide an opportunity for members to make a decision on the appointment of the next Director-General. Okonjo-Iweala confirmed her willingness to serve a second four-year term in a letter on 16th September.

An Insight into WTO’s Future

With a solid education and broad experience, combined with her performance during the first term, 58 member-states of the WTO have already thrown their support behind her to head the Geneva-based body. The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. The goal is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. It currently has 164 members, monitoring each other’s practices and regulations against a set of standard trading rules to improve transparency and avoid protectionism.

In addition, WTO works to build the trading capacity of developing and least-developed countries, helping them integrate and benefit from the multilateral trading system. This is an essential part of the work. The trading system has to be inclusive, with the benefits of trade reaching as many as possible around the world, particularly in the poorest countries.

The WTO provides its members with a tried and tested system of shared rules and principles to support economic cooperation and thereby boost growth, development and job creation around the world. It provides a forum for members to raise, discuss and potentially solve the complex problems that they face. The organization deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. There is huge value in the system of the World Trade Organization.

Professor Maurice Okoli is a fellow at the Institute for African Studies and the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences. He is also a fellow and lecturer at the North-Eastern Federal University of Russia. He serves as an expert at the Roscongress Foundation and the Valdai Discussion Club.

As an academic researcher and economist with a keen interest in current geopolitical changes and the emerging world order, Maurice Okoli frequently contributes articles for publication in reputable media portals on different aspects of the interconnection between developing and developed countries, particularly in Asia, Africa, and Europe. With comments and suggestions, he can be reached via email: markolconsult (at) gmail (dot) com.