WTO chief Okonjo-Iweala seeks second term to complete ‘unfinished business’
Okonjo-Iweala, 70, a former Nigerian finance minister, made history in 2021 as the first female and African chief of the 30-year-old trade body.
“I would like to be part of this chapter of the WTO story, and I stand ready to compete for the position,” Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters on Monday, with her comments later confirmed by a WTO statement.
“For my second term, I intend to focus on delivering,” she added, highlighting priorities such as addressing “unfinished business.”
These include securing a deal on ending fisheries subsidies, achieving a breakthrough in global agricultural negotiations, reforming the WTO’s hobbled dispute resolution system, and decarbonizing trade.
Officially, she has until the end of November to decide whether to apply for a second term. However, the early move initiated by African leaders in July — before U.S. President Joe Biden withdrew from the election campaign — and supported by dozens of countries, is partly seen as a strategy to secure her second term before the U.S. election in November.
Under WTO consensus rules, she could be re-elected if no other candidates apply and all member states agree.
In 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration blocked her appointment, a move seen by some as an attack on the WTO, an organization he had labeled “horrible.”
She secured U.S. backing after Biden succeeded Trump in 2021. Asked if both she and the WTO could thrive if Trump is re-elected, she said, “I don’t focus on that because I have no control.”
A “VERY TOUGH” JOB
Okonjo-Iweala is among the few WTO chiefs to have successfully brokered global trade deals, including the first part of a global treaty on cutting fishing subsidies in 2022.
However, a high-level meeting earlier this year produced more modest outcomes, such as the accession of two new members and a temporary agreement to avoid imposing digital tariffs. Since then, some agreements, like a follow-up fishing deal, have been blocked, most notably by India.
Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged to Reuters that the job is difficult, and that geopolitical tensions among the WTO’s 166 members pose a significant challenge.
“It is tough, you know, very tough. There’s no getting away from that. But it’s also a job that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning,” she told Reuters.
Since the Trump administration blocked the appointment of judges to the WTO’s top adjudication body in December 2019, leaving it unable to function, the organization has struggled to enforce rules among its members.
This policy has continued under Biden, though Washington is engaging in talks on potential reforms that could eventually restore a form of dispute resolution review.
