Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has made the final shortlist of candidates for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
According to Bloomberg, the WTO members removed three candidates from the list race to be the next DG of the body.
The Organisation said Egypt’s Hamid Mamdouh, Mexico’s Jesus Seade and Moldova’s Tudor Ulianovschi did not get enough support in the voting’s first of three rounds.
“Their expertise and high professional and personal qualities are highly valued and respected by all members,” WTO General Council Chairman, David Walker, disclosed in a recent statement.
Meanwhile, the second phase of consultations would commence on September 24 and end on October 6 after which the two final candidates would be released by the organisation.
All things being equal, a new WTO leader will be named on November 7, 2020.
As things stand, Okonjo-Iweala will compete alongside Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, UK’s Liam Fox, South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee and Kenya’s Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril.
