Bloomberg News
@Bloomberg-News·2.8M subscribers·40.1K videos
WTO Race: Nigeria's Okonjo-Iweala to become 1st Woman, African to Lead World Trade Organization
Posted
February 8, 2021
Views
1,189
Likes
12
Comments
4
Engagement
February 8, 2021
1,189
12
4
1.35%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
4:42Now PlayingThe U.S. gave its formal backing to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to lead the World Trade Organization, removing the final obstacle to her bid to be the first woman and the first African to run the Geneva-based trade body.
“Dr. Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy,” the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement Friday. “She is widely respected for her effective leadership and has proven experience managing a large international organization with a diverse membership.”
The USTR added it “looks forward to working with a new WTO director-general to find paths forward to achieve necessary substantive and procedural reform of the WTO.”
The Biden administration’s decision to support Okonjo-Iweala’s campaign will be viewed in Geneva as a welcome shift in U.S. support for the multilateral trading system following four years of salvos against an organization that former President Donald Trump previously called the worst trade deal the U.S. ever signed.
With the U.S. now joining a consensus, WTO general council Chairman David Walker is expected to soon announce a meeting in Geneva, where the organization’s members will formally approve Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment to a four-year term as director-general. WTO Spokesman Keith Rockwell declined to comment.
On her Twitter account, Okonjo-Iweala said she was “grateful for the expression of support from the U.S.”
READ MORE: bloom.bg/3aI4eH3
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.
To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.
Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake
Connect with us on…
Breaking News on YouTube
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
