I have been deep in thought, wondering how best one could motivate an intentional woman like Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a woman who has carved a niche for herself in the international scene. She fought her way through and placed her name in the sands of time, having spent a 25 year career at the World Bank and as a Finance Minister, who never compromised standards for inviting chunks of the ‘National cake’.
Now that the obstacles have been cleared for Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to become the first woman and the first African to lead the World Trade Organization, I still can not fathom the best congratulatory message to deliver to this woman of great mien.
Her remaining obstacle was South Korea’s candidate, Yoo Myung-hee who pulled out of the race for the job, through a televised broadcast on Friday.
Okonjo-Iweala, is an economist and former finance minister of Nigeria, who has enjoyed broad support from WTO members, including the European Union, China, Japan and Australia.This has been greeted with a series of mixed reactions across the globe, including President Muhammadu Buhari on twitter. “We welcome the decision of the new U.S administration to remove the last obstacle in the path of @NOIweala to becoming the first female and the first person of African descent to lead the @wto”, he said.
Born June 13, 1954, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian-American economist and international development expert sits on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, and the African Risk Capacity.
Okonjo-Iweala has over 25 years-experience at the World Bank as a development economist, and rose to the position of Managing Director. She also chaired the board of Gavi, which is helping to distribute coronavirus vaccines globally, stepping down at the end of her term in December.
The Geneva-based body, which Okonjo-Iweala would lead is tasked with promoting free trade. The body has been without a permanent director general since Roberto Azevêdo stepped down a year earlier than planned at the end of August after the WTO was caught in the middle of an escalating trade fight between the United States and China.
Though some say Okonjo-Iweala hails from one of the few parts of the world where free trade is dominant, she believes that trade would play an important role in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The WTO needs a leader at this time. It needs a fresh look, a fresh face, an outsider, someone with the capability to implement reforms and to work with members to make sure the WTO comes out of the partial paralysis that it’s in,” she said in an interview with CNN.
While we at TheScript Media congratulate Madam President, we also pray her tenure will be successful and would contribute meaningful development to the World.
