Okonjo-Iweala is unopposed to serve a second term as WTO chief

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Published 3:42 PM ET, Tuesday November 12, 2024 |

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has cleared a major hurdle in her bid to win a second term, but she still faces a potential obstacle from the United States after Donald Trump’s reelection as president.

No other candidate emerged to challenge Okonjo-Iweala for the position during a 30-day nomination period that closed at midnight on Friday in Geneva.

“At the end of the nomination period, the only candidacy received for this post is from Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the incumbent director-general,” WTO General Council chair Petter Ølberg said in a note to WTO members on Saturday.

That means the WTO General Council could approve her bid for a second term at its next meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 16-17. But it remains possible that the United States or another member could object to her reappointment.

Such an objection could require the WTO to take a rare vote to break the impasse.

Clete Willems, who served as a White House trade official in the first Trump administration, criticized the WTO for trying to give Okonjo-Iweala a second term before Trump is sworn in for his second term on Jan. 20.

“I don’t know what the Biden administration will do, but I think what they should do is tell the WTO to go back to the original timeframe and not try to rush this in the shadow of a U.S. presidential election,” Willems said.

Trump tried to block Okonjo-Iweala’s initial appointment in 2020 but lost that year’s presidential election to Joe Biden.

The United States dropped its opposition to Okonjo-Iweala after Biden took office and the WTO approved the former Nigerian finance minister and former number two-ranking World Bank official as its director-general in February 2021.