Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigerian finance minister, has become the sole candidate in the World Trade Organisation’s Director-General race, as the South-Korean candidate for the position, Yoo Myung-hee, withdrew her bid to contest.
This was disclosed by Myung-hee after she had mentioned it to the United States, according to Bloomberg.
This means that Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is now the sole candidate left in the race.
Yoo Myung-hee is South Korea’s Trade minister and its candidate for the top job at the WTO following the resignation of Roberto Azevedo.
Okonjo-Iweala had secured the popular vote by a wide margin on October 28 but was not named DG because the US opposed her candidacy.
After the October 28, 2020, meeting, the WTO also said Okonjo-Iweala had the best chance of getting a consensus; however, the US had said it favoured Yoo over Okonjo-Iweala because, according to it, the WTO is in dire need of reform and must be “led by someone with real, hands-on experience in the field”.
The two women are the last candidates standing and the eventual winner will set a record as being the first female WTO D-G.
