Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Geneva: The World Trade Organization (WTO) members today agreed to give incumbent Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a second term as Director-General of the WTO.
Her second four-year term, which was approved at a special General Council meeting, will begin on September 1, 2025. She took office as Director-General in March 2021 and is the first African and the first woman to serve as head of the organization.
In a statement following her reappointment as the WTO Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she was deeply honoured by the trust and support of the WTO General Council and its 166 Members. She said by promoting trade as a driver of economic growth and resilience, the WTO will continue to provide a collaborative platform for Members to address shared global challenges.
“I am deeply committed to working alongside the talented and dedicated staff of the WTO to build a more inclusive, equitable, and rules-based multilateral trading system that benefits all,” she declared.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a global finance expert, an economist and an international development professional with over 40 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was formerly Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. She was previously on the Boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc. She was appointed as the African Union (AU) Special Envoy to mobilise international financial support for the fight against COVID-19 and WHO Special Envoy for Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
Previously, Dr Okonjo-Iweala twice served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. She distinguished herself by carrying out major reforms which improved the effectiveness of these two Ministries and the functioning of the government machinery. She had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director, Operations. As a development economist and Finance Minister, Dr Okonjo-Iweala steered her country through various reforms ranging from macroeconomics to trade, financial and real sector issues.
– global bihari bureau
