By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nationality is not required to become director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala let it be known on Wednesday that she has a United States citizenship although she applied for the post as a Nigerian.
She used the U.S. connection to burnish her competitiveness with seven other candidates to get the job of resolving global trade issues, especially among the super powers, highlighted by the festering disputes between the U.S. and China.
Okonjo-Iweala was born in Nigeria but left in the 1970s for the U.S. to attend Harvard and later MIT, where she obtained a PhD in developmental economics.
Africa has never produced someone at the helm of the WTO. Among the other candidates for the job is Amina Mohamed, a woman from Kenya.
If Okonjo-Iweala or Mohamed is picked, either will make double history as the first African and the first woman to head the WTO, which is based in Geneva.
Okonjo-Iweala obtained American citizenship in 2019, her spokeswoman told Bloomberg News, after spending most of her career at the World Bank and living in the Washington suburbs.
It is not uncommon for international civil servants who spend long stretches working abroad to take a second citizenship, especially when their families have been living overseas with them, the spokeswoman said.
Eight candidates, from Nigeria to Mexico and Moldova, are vying to become WTO director general, in place of Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down on Monday.
They have until September 7 to lobby the 164 member states.
Endorsements
To highlight her international appeal, Okonjo-Iweala was endorsed for the job last month by former Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.
“My brilliant co-author of Women and Leadership, Real Lives, Real Lessons, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is in the running to be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.
“An excellent negotiator and leader, she would be a wonderful choice,” Julia Gillard tweeted on August 3.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, also tweeted on Tuesday that Okonjo-Iweala, is the best candidate for the job.
“In these challenging times, the 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.
“A vote for her by all is a step in the right direction. I fully endorse the candidature of Okonjo-Iweala to lead the WTO,” Dangote said
She is humbled by the support of the government of Nigeria and its people, her spokeswoman added.
Bloomberg News noted that she has a resumé full of qualifications, and there is no citizenship requirement for the job.
Still, it added, the revelation of her dual status may become magnified as protectionist sentiment rises around the world and national allegiances are questioned, observers of the process said.
“Unfortunately in this rather mercantilist world we live in, some members might take nationality into account,” said Stuart Harbinson, a former senior WTO official and a senior consultant on international trade for the Brussels-based Hume Brophy communications agency.
“It is much more important to get the right person.”
At least two other candidates disclosed multiple nationalities on their biographies posted online by the WTO.
Okonjo-Iweala’s bio doesn’t mention dual citizenship, and there’s no requirement to do so, Bloomberg News stressed.
The job
Six men have served as DGs since the WTO founding in 1995. Okonjo-Iweala and Mohamed have emerged as front-runners to succeed Azevedo.
Though Okonjo-Iweala has twice served as Nigeria’s finance minister, she spent most of her adult life working in America, after arriving in the 1970s to attend Harvard University, Bloomberg News added.
She lived in Potomac, Maryland, where she raised four children and worked for 25 years at the World Bank.
Tensions between U.S., China
Already complicating the WTO leadership race are tensions between the U.S. and China.
China has engaged in a multiyear campaign to expand its diplomatic influence and install key personnel at the top levels of international bodies like the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, according to Bloomberg News.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to blunt China’s ambitions and led a successful effort this year to displace a Chinese candidate to lead the World Intellectual Property Organisation with a more Western-friendly candidate from Singapore.
The competition between the U.S. and China for global influence isn’t isolated to the WIPO race and has already surfaced at the WTO, which the Trump administration has rendered virtually powerless to resolve trade disputes because it wants the organisation overhauled.
At the end of July, the Chinese delegation to the WTO opposed a U.S. proposal for an American deputy DG, Alan Wolff, to serve as the WTO’s interim DG until a permanent chief is selected.
China was able to block Wolff’s interim bid because of the organisation’s tradition of decision-making by consensus – a practice that allows any member to veto a candidate for any reason.
WTO members were ultimately unable to select an interim leader to steer the organisation.
A single veto from a country is not necessarily fatal to anyone’s candidacy.
While the WTO endeavours to select a candidate who is most likely to have the consensus support of its 164 members, it also provides recourse of voting as a last resort.
But this is a process involving a qualified majority the WTO hasn’t yet used in its 25-year history.
