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Nigeria nominates Okonjo-Iweala as WTO Director-General
Okonjo-Iweala has served as Nigeria’s minister of finance, economy and foreign affairs, and is currently one of the AU’s special envoys to mobilize international support for the continent’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bloomberg | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the nation’s candidate to be director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Tolu Ogunlesi, an assistant to the president of Africa’s biggest economy, announced the nomination on his Twitter account.
President @MBuhari has nominated @NOIweala as Nigeria’s candidate for the position of DG of @wto.
DG Azevedo is stepping down in August 2020, a year early, so the election of a new DG, originally scheduled for 2021, may take place much earlier.
— tolu ogunlesi (@toluogunlesi) June 4, 2020
Brazilian Director-General Roberto Azevedo in May said he plans to step down from the 25-year-old WTO at the end of August, a year before his term ends, saying it’s the best way to avoid more chaos at the alliance, which has already been hobbled by attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump and the start of a global recession.
Okonjo-Iweala is a former World Bank executive who negotiated a write-off of Nigeria’s debt in the mid-2000s. She has served as minister of finance, economy and foreign affairs in Nigeria, and is currently one of the African Union’s special envoys to mobilize international support for the continent’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buhari withdrew the candidacy of Yonov Frederik Agah, Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO, for the same position, Nigeria’s Independent newspaper reported.