Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala attending a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, February 15, 2020. /VCG
"She is going to rock the place." That's how Christine Lagarde, the first woman president of the European Central Bank, prognosticated the future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) under Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a few months back in an interview.
Come February 15, Nigeria-born Okonjo-Iweala will create history by becoming the first woman and the first African to lead the Geneva-based global trade governing body founded in 1995. All of her five predecessors are men.
"Huge congratulations to my wonderful friend and co-author Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on becoming the leader of the World Trade Organization. Ngozi, thank you for making history again! @NOIweala," tweeted Julia Gillard, former prime minister of Australia who co-penned the book "Women and Leadership. Real Lives, Real Lessons" with the incoming director-general of the WTO.
Christine Lagarde (R), then chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former finance minister of Nigeria, at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 15, 2017.
For months, Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy caught heat from the Trump administration, with the United States employing its veto powers to buck her appointment and back South Korea's first female trade minister Yoo Myung-hee for the top post. The multilateral organization requires all its 164 members to endorse a choice.
The General Council Chair David Walker said in a WTO statement released in October, "She clearly carried the largest support by members in the final round," adding, "The assessment was challenged by the United States which said it would continue to support Minister Yoo."
On Friday, Yoo Myung-hee said she was withdrawing from the race. This was followed by the newly inaugurated Biden administration breaking the months-long deadlock by extending its "strong support" for Okonjo-Iweala, paving the way for her to become the world's most senior trade official.
South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee (L) in Geneva, July 16, 2020; and former Nigerian Foreign and Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Geneva, Switzerland, July 15, 2020
"She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience in managing a large international organization with a diverse membership," said the Office of the United States Trade Representative on Friday.
"It is particularly important to underscore that two highly qualified women made it to the final round of consideration for the position of WTO director general – the first time that any woman has made it to this stage in the history of the institution," it added.
Okonjo-Iweala reacted to the news on Twitter: "Grateful for the expression of support from the U.S. today for DG @WTO. Congratulations to Madam Yoo of Rep. of Korea for a hard fought campaign. Thank you President Muhammadu Buhari @MBuhari & all Nigerians for your unflinching support. Thank you friends. Love to my family. Glory to God."
(L-R) Honoree Kathryn D. Sullivan, Barbara Walters, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Omotola Jalade Ekeinde attend the TIME 100 Gala, TIME's 100 most influential people in the world, at Lincoln Center in New York City, the U.S., April 29, 2014. VCG
'The troublemaker'
Owing to zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption during her two terms as the finance minister of Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala earned a moniker from her detractors, "Okonjo Wahala" – "Okonjo the trouble maker." Before taking up cabinet portfolios she worked in different roles and positions as a development economist at the World Bank for 25 years.
The Harvard-educated Okonjo-Iweala stepped down as board chair at GAVI, a global vaccine alliance that promotes equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, in December 2020. She is also on the board of social media giant Twitter.
She became a U.S. citizen in 2019.
The challenges
Okonjo-Iweala takes over the realm of the WTO at a crucial time, when Trump's years-long bullying of multilateral organizations, surging trade disputes and the COVID-19 pandemic have rendered the global trade watchdog obsolete and in an urgent need for reforms.
"Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is eager to focus on the many needed reforms at the WTO," Molly Toomey, a spokesperson for Okonjo-Iweala, said in a statement on Friday.
In an interview with Brookings in September last year, Okonjo-Iweala said, "The WTO's rules are not up to date as it concerns what I would call 21st-century issues." She listed "restoring the vision of the WTO as an organization delivering for development" as her top priority.
This could prove to be an uphill task with a floundering global economy. Talking about the lasting impacts of the pandemic on international trade and development opportunities, she noted "the trends of protectionism and nationalism have been heightened" and "created an impression that some supply chains need to be brought home."
A staunch supporter of multilateralism, Okonjo-Iweala called "multilateral trade agreements better because they involve all the members – 164 members," emphasizing that "when you have all the countries around the table, transaction costs are lower."