WTO DG Begins Trade Discussions With Nigeria

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, last Saturday, arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on a ‘thank you’ visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari had thrown his weight behind Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy for the WTO top job months before she garnered the support of member countries, and was finally declared the DG.
Okonjo-Iweala, who was received by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, told newsmen that her visit was to show appreciation to the President for his support for her.
She disclosed that her visit would also be a forum of discussion on how Nigeria could benefit from trans-national trade.
Okonjo-Iweala was confirmed DG, WTO on February 16, 2021, after receiving unanimous backing from the World Trade Organisation WTO General Council.
She is the first woman and first African to oversee the affairs of the WTO.
The 66-year-old Harvard-trained economist had a career spanning over two decades at the World Bank.
She was also a two-term minister serving under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo as finance minister between July 15, 2003 and June 21, 2006, and coordinating minister for the economy under President Goodluck Jonathan between August 17, 2011 and May 29, 2015.
She was also a member of the South African Economic Advisory Council.
The Nigerian-American economist and development expert, whose four-year term is renewable, assumed office on March 1, 2021.