A key group of World Trade Organisation (WTO) ambassadors has proposed Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to lead the organisation, trade sources told Reuters News Agency on Wednesday, clearing a path for her to become the first woman and African to head the global watchdog in its 25-year history.
The proposal, which still needs full WTO approval next month, caps a more than four-month selection process involving intensive lobbying which saw her square up against South Korean trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee, in the final round.
The recommendation of Okonjo-Iweala was made by three WTO ambassadors, the so-called “troika”, after consulting with members in a series of closed-door meetings in Geneva as part of an intricate and opaque process that some have compared to a papal succession.
It however still needs to be approved by consensus at a meeting of the WTO’s 164 members.
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