{"id":1217,"date":"2020-11-08T18:16:39","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T18:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/?p=1217"},"modified":"2020-11-08T18:16:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T18:16:42","slug":"nigerias-okonjo-iweala-opposed-by-united-states-for-wto-top-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/nigerias-okonjo-iweala-opposed-by-united-states-for-wto-top-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria\u2019s Okonjo-Iweala  opposed by United States for WTO top job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/united-states-places-sanctions-on-zineb-jammeh-wife-of-ex-gambian-leader\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">United States<\/a> says it is not backing former Nigeria finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the next Director-General of the <a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/african-continental-free-trade-area-prospects-and-risks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">World Trade Organization.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>America\u2019s opposition to her candidature comes after the three WTO ambassadors charged with the task of finding the next WTO chief settled on the Nigerian, Reuters has reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The choice of the Nigerian to be the next chief of the WTO was relayed to the members of the organization by the head of the \u201ctroika\u201d ambassadors at a meeting on Wednesday, the report added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>More about this<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/meet-the-trio-vying-to-become-first-african-wto-boss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Meet the trio vying to become first African WTO boss<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/beyonce-the-lion-king-the-gift-album-and-african-intellectual-property\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyonce, \u2018The Lion King: The Gift\u2019 album and African intellectual property<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/this-west-african-nut-made-millions-for-european-and-american-companies-before-it-was-banned\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This West African nut made millions for European and American companies before it was banned<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-huey-newton-the-radical-founder-of-the-black-panther-movement-in-1966\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 things you didn\u2019t know about Huey Newton, the radical founder of the Black Panther movement in 1966<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the US representative at the meeting reportedly insisted that South Korea\u2019s candidate, Yoo Myung-hee remained a contender and that Washington will not recognize <a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/beyonce-graces-times-100-influential-cover-okonjo-iweala-aliko-dangote-makes-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Okonjo-Iweala<\/a> as the consensus candidate for appointment as director-general, according to Theafricareport.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of America\u2019s opposition to Okonjo-Iweala\u2019s candidature, the General Counsel has postponed its announcement of the new Director-General until a further meeting, which is scheduled for 9 November; after the US presidential elections, the report added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Okonjo-Iweala is approved by consensus, she will replace Roberto Azev\u00eado as the next WTO Director-General. Azev\u00eado stepped down as WTO Director-General on 31 August 2020, a year before the expiry of his mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the European Union (EU) will back Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director-General of the WTO. An EU official said the decision to back the Nigerian was \u201ca strong signal to reinforce the multilateral order and clear signal towards Africa and a sign of mutual trust.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okonjo-Iweala\u2019s vast experience makes her suitable for the job. Besides serving as Nigeria\u2019s finance minister, she also served as a Managing Director of the World Bank where she had oversight responsibility for the World Bank\u2019s operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several <a href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/world-bank-suspends-500m-loan-for-tanzania-after-protests-over-govt-ban-of-pregnant-schoolgirls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">World Bank<\/a> initiatives to assist low-income countries during both the food and later financial crisis. She has chaired the replenishment of over $40 billion for the International Development Association (IDA), the grant, and the soft credit arm of the World Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her achievements as Finance Minister garnered international recognition for improving Nigeria\u2019s financial stability and fostering greater fiscal transparency to combat corruption. In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that negotiated the cancellation of 60% of Nigeria\u2019s external debt ($18 billion) with the Paris Club.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was educated at<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/face2faceafrica.com\/article\/amazing-atlanta-black-teens-win-third-consecutive-harvard-debate-competition12\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;Harvard<\/a>&nbsp;and has a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rockefellerfoundation.org\/profile\/ngozi-okonjo-iweala\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Okonjo-Iweala<\/a>&nbsp;is the recipient of numerous awards, including Honorary Doctorates from Trinity College, Dublin, Brown University, and Amherst College, among others. She is the recipient of Time magazine\u2019s European Hero of the Year Award, 2004, for her work on economic reform in Nigeria among many other recognitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United States says it is not backing former Nigeria finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization. America\u2019s opposition to her candidature comes after the three WTO ambassadors charged with the task of finding the next WTO chief settled on the Nigerian, Reuters has reported. The choice of<a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/nigerias-okonjo-iweala-opposed-by-united-states-for-wto-top-job\/\"> Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,56,6],"tags":[362,364,363,361,360],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1219,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217\/revisions\/1219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}