WTO chief Okonjo-Iweala seeks second term to complete ‘unfinished business’

Geneva — WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will seek another four-year term as head of the World Trade Organisation after a broad Africa-led push to start the process early, aiming to complete “unfinished business” from her first mandate.

Okonjo-Iweala, 70, a former Nigerian finance minister, made history by becoming the first female and African chief of the 30-year-old trade body in 2021.

“I would like to be part of this chapter of the WTO story and I stand ready to compete for the position,” Okonjo-Iweala said on Monday.

“For my second term, I intend to focus on delivering,” she added, saying among the priorities were addressing “unfinished business”.

These include a deal on ending fisheries subsidies and reaching a breakthrough in global agriculture negotiations, as well as reforming the WTO’s hobbled disputes system and decarbonising trade.

Officially, she has until end-November to decide whether to apply again. But the African-led move to start early, initiated in July before US President Joe Biden withdrew from the election campaign and supported by dozens of countries, was seen as motivated partly by a bid to secure her second term before the US vote in November.

Under WTO consensus rules, that would be possible if no-one else applies and all states accept her.

In 2020, former US President Donald Trump’s administration blocked her appointment in a step seen by some as an attack on an organisation he once described as “horrible”. She secured US backing when Biden succeeded Trump in 2021.

Asked whether both she and the WTO could be successful if Trump is elected, she said: “I don’t focus on that because I have no control.”

Meagre outcomes

Okonjo-Iweala is one of the few WTO chiefs in the body’s history to land global trade deals, including the first part of a global treaty on cutting fishing subsidies agreed in 2022.

But a high-level meeting earlier this year yielded more meagre outcomes: the accession of two new members and a rollover on a deal to hold off from imposing digital tariffs. Since then some agreements such as a follow-up fishing deal have been blocked most clearly by just one member — India.

Okonjo-Iweala admitted the job was difficult and that geopolitical tensions among its 166 members were a significant challenge.

“It is … very tough…. But it’s also a job that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning,” she said.

Since the Trump the administration blocked judges in December 2019 to the WTO’s top adjudications court, leaving it unable to function, the watchdog has had limited scope to constrain the flouting of rules by members.

The policy has continued under Biden, though Washington is engaging on possible reforms, which could eventually cause some form of review system for disputes to eventually be revived.

Reuters