The inability of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to make changes and achieve substantial progress in the organisation has made her consider quitting.
This is coming barely seven months into her four-year tenure as a news report by Bloomberg indicated that she is experiencing frustration with the workings of the organization.
About five trade officials who declined to be identified told Bloomberg that she threatened to resign if no headway can be found on critical issues.
The report noted that this year, Okonjo-Iweala has repeatedly told ambassadors and staff that she could easily walk away from the job, and reminds them she hasn’t bought any furniture for her temporary home in Geneva, the officials said.
Okonjo-Iweala’s predecessor, Roberto Azevedo, also resigned a year before the expiry of his tenure, citing the lack of progress at the WTO as his primary reason for resigning from the organization.
Okonjo-Iweala when she assumed office this year planned to score quick negotiating victories that she said would help reboot the dysfunctional Geneva-based trade body.
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An early departure of the WTO’s top trade official would add yet another layer of chaos to an organization suffering from an existential crisis that may lead governments to conclude the WTO is not a credible forum for addressing their shared challenges.
Some Geneva trade officials told Bloomberg News that they suspect Okonjo-Iweala wants to run in the 2023 presidential election in her native country of Nigeria.
Okonjo-Iweala didn’t comment about her threats to resign but denied any interest in running for the Nigerian presidency, calling such speculation “utterly ridiculous and not true” in a statement to Bloomberg News.
“I just got here. I am enjoying what I’m doing,” she told Bloomberg News in a television interview. “It is a very exciting job and I am trying to have some successes here.”Foe
