Nigeria

EU endorses Nigeria's Okonjo-Iweala, one other for WTO DG

Tuesday, October 06, 2020 at 9:02 AM by Nurudeen Lawal

- The EU has endorsed two candidates for the position of the DG of the World Trade Organization

- Nigeria's Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea's Yoo Myung-hee are the EU-endorsed candidates among the five contenders

- The WTO will soon announce two finalists after which the eventual winner will be named in November 2020

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The quest by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head the World Trade Organization has got a boost as the European Union governments endorse her and one other candidate.

Bloomberg reported that the EU member-country envoys agreed on Monday, October 5, that they will support Okonjo-Iweala who is Nigeria’s former finance minister and the country's candidate for the top job.

EU endorses Nigeria's Okonjo-Iweala, one other for WTO DG. Photo credit: Bloomberg
Source: UGC

The other candidate endorsed by the EU is Yoo Myung-hee who is from South Korea.

Legit.ng gathers that the race to pick the next director-general of the WTO has entered its final month.

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Though five candidates are still in the WTO DG race, the organisation is reportedly set to announce two finalists after Tuesday, October 6, and name a winner by Saturday, November 7.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Aliko Dangote, one of Africa's richest business mogul, put out his voice in support of Okonjo-Iweala as the best candidate to emerge as director-general of the World Trade Organization.

Dangote said he believed that the WTO needs a professional with proven international records like Okonjo-Iweala at its hem of affairs.

The Nigerian business mogul endorsed the former minister for the envied position on his verified Twitter page on Tuesday, September 1.

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Similarly, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Gordon Brown, has lent his support to Okonjo-Iweala, arguing that she is the just the right person for the job.