WTO members push to expedite an Okonjo-Iweala second term bid

A sizable portion of World Trade Organization members supported a move from a group of African countries pushing for Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to expedite a run for a second four-year term.

Fifty-eight of the Geneva-based organization’s 164 members, “several speaking on behalf of groups of members, took the floor to comment and express their support for the African Group proposal,” the WTO said in a statement late Monday.

Okonjo-Iweala’s current term expires in August 2025. According to the statement, she said she “took the call of members very seriously and was favorably inclined,” adding that she would reply with her intentions “very soon.”

While the statement didn’t explain why the process needed to start as soon as possible, the US presidential election is set for November. And a return of former US President Donald Trump could jeopardize Okonjo-Iweala’s chances of getting the support of an American administration if he wins.

In the previous presidential election year of 2020, the Trump administration supported a different candidate — then-South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee to be WTO director-general, slowing the selection process. In early 2021, a newly elected Biden administration backed Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister and World Bank official.