Nigerian candidate wins US support to head the World Trade Organization | international

President of the United States, Joe Biden Last Friday, he announced his support for running for the leadership of the Republic World Trade Organization (WTO) By Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who, almost certainly, will make the applicant the first woman and the first African to hold the position.

The other candidate, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, withdrew her candidacy shortly before. The United States was the only country that supported and objected to Yu Okonjo-IwealaThis prevented reaching a consensus decision to elect the new chairman of the multilateral organization, which must be done by consensus. The change of administration in the United States allowed Washington to show its “strong support” for Okonjo-Iweala, according to a representative of the US Trade Bureau.

The candidate has extensive experience in the international arena, having worked for the World Bank for 25 years and served two terms as Nigerian Finance Minister. The representative of the United States said, “The United States wants to work with the new leadership of the World Trade Organization to achieve the necessary fundamental reforms that the organization needs.”

An unprecedented crisis

The General Council of Members of the World Trade Organization, the body responsible for determining the nomination, had been scheduled to meet in early March, but the meeting could be submitted once the appointment is cleared. The organization’s former director general, Roberto Azevedo, resigned at the end of August for family reasons after seven years in office and amid a crisis unprecedented in the organization’s history.

The World Trade Organization is responsible for overseeing global trade rules and is apparently the biggest crisis since its founding in 1995, due to the growing disagreements between the major trading blocs with China, the United States and the European Union with opposing visions. As well as tensions between developing and industrialized countries. Moreover, the Donald Trump administration dealt a near-fatal blow to the body by blocking the Renewal of the Appellate BodyIt is the arbitration court that gives the World Trade Organization the last word in commercial disputes that are settled in the Authority.