Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has endorsed the candidature of Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the World Trade Organization (WTO) top job.
Okonjo-Iweala is among the candidates vying to become the next Director General of the WTO, a body that deals with the global rules of trade between nations to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
Others in the race are: Dr Jesús Seade Kuri (Mexico); Mr Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt); Mr Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova); Ms Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea); Ms Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya); Mr Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Dr Liam Fox (United Kingdom).
“In these challenging times WTO needs the renowned skills and tested experience of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to lead the organisation through identified obstacles and strengthen its position as the prime facilitator of international trade,” Dangote said this on on his twitter handle adding that a vote for Okonjo-Iweala by all “is a step in the right direction.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had in June nominated Okonji-Iweala, a two-time Minister of Finance of Nigeria and former Managing Director Operations World Bank, as Nigeria’s candidate for the position of the Director-General of WTO.
The election, originally slated to hold in 2021, is taking place earlier following the stepping down of Roberto Azevêdo in August after serving two terms of seven years.
