Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has won a second term after the unanimous decision of the organisation’s governing body, the General Council, to approve her return to office.
Okonjo-Iweala’s second four-year term will begin on 1 September 2025, the WTO announced at the end of last week. The decision comes after an 8 November deadline saw no other nominations submitted for the role, besides that of the sitting director general.
‘Outstanding leadership’
Norwegian WTO ambassador Petter Ølberg, chair of the General Council, said that the re-appointment reflected her “outstanding leadership” in a first term that has been marked by turbulence in global trade.
“Amid significant global economic challenges, she strengthened the WTO’s ability to support its members and set a forward-looking agenda for the organization. Her leadership was instrumental in securing meaningful outcomes at pivotal moments, including the 12th and 13th Ministerial Conferences (MC12 and MC13), where major milestones were achieved.”
Looking forward, he added that Okonjo-Iweala remaining the role would ensure the WTO “continues to advance a resilient, rules-based, and equitable global trading system”.
Speaking on X/Twitter following the announcement, Okonjo-Iweala said that the role is “an enormous responsibility”, and promised to make renewed efforts to “deliver the results this organisation needs, including the necessary reforms to make it fit for 21st century challenges”.
The former Nigerian finance minister also emphasised her commitment to working with all the members of the organisation in order to achieve reform, adding that “we’ve done it before [and] we can do it again!”
Singapore speech
Speaking today (2 December) at the Next STEP Global Conference, organised by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Okonjo-Iweala said there was a need for international trade to remain open.
In light of recent trade disputes between the US and China as well the re-election of the protectionism-inclined Donald Trump as US president, she said:
“The open and predictable global trading system we’ve grown accustomed to and come to take for granted over the decades is under threat.”
She argued that it was incumbent on middle-income nations to mitigate the developing situation between the two countries by focusing on open trade:
“Middle powers have a lot at stake, so they can and should be doing more to shore up the open global economy.”
Trump return
The announcement of Okonjo-Iweala’s reappointment comes on the heels of Trump’s re-election, which could pose a renewed challenge for the director general.
Trump’s previous US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, who is positioned for a prominent role in his new administration, has called Okonjo-Iweala “China’s ally in Geneva”.
Another trade official in the first Trump administration, Clete Willems, told Politico before the US election that the WTO was attempting to expedite the re-election of Okonjo-Iweala before any second Trump administration, in what he called a “completely politically tone-deaf” move.
“By trying to expedite this process, you are essentially taking the position that you don’t care what the views of a potential Trump administration might be.
“You are therefore trying to undermine those views. And the reality is that, yes, the Trump administration has strong views about some of the inequities in the system.”
The previous Trump administration initially supported the candidacy of South Korea trade minister Yoo Myung-hee for WTO head, but his successor Joe Biden switched US support to Okonjo-Iweala following the 2020 presidential election.