One more hurdle between Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala and WTO DG seat

As the race to the office of Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) moves towards its conclusion, the WTO has officially announced two finalists for the position.

The two last contenders are Nigeria’s candidate, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and South Korea’s candidate, Yoo Myung-hee. This means there is only one hurdle left to be crossed by either Dr. Okonjo-Iweala or her counterpart to clinch the position.

Keith Rockwell, WTO spokesman, disclosed this to reporters at the WTO headquarters in Geneva after the results were announced to member states at a meeting.

The spokesman said, “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Korean minister Yoo Myung-hee will advance to the third and final stage of consultations. The third stage will run from October 19 to October 27 with a winner to be announced before November 7.

“Both of the women that are in the final round are remarkably well-qualified. This is something on which everyone has agreed.”

The two finalists advanced ahead of Britain’s Liam Fox, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed, and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad al-Tuwaijri who failed to get enough backing from the WTO’s 164 members in the second round of the battle to become the next director-general of the WTO.

Since the WTO’s establishment in 1995, this would be the first time that it would appoint a female leader.

The two candidates are remarkably well-qualified and possess lots of experience to lead the organization. The race is going down to the wire.