Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has emerged winner of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) race.
Okonjo- Iweala polled 104 votes from 164 member countries to defeat South Korea’s Minister of Trade Minister, Yoo Myung-Hee.
According to Reuters, a key group of WTO ambassadors proposed Okonjo-Iweala to lead the trade organisation on Wednesday, clearing a path for her to become the first woman and African to head the global watchdog in its 25-year history.
The official announcement is expected to be made by the WTO later today.
The European Union backed Iweala over Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea, who is Okonjo-Iweala’s sole remaining opponent in the race.
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Okonjo-Iweala was Nigeria’s finance minister during the tenures of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
She has experience working at international governance bodies as a former managing director of the World Bank and as a chairman at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.
Okonjo-Iweala’s success as WTO DG makes her the first African and first female director-general of the international body in its 25-year history.
