Africa: Would Heading the WTO Be a Poison Chalice for Africa?

analysis

The sudden resignation of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) director-general, the Brazilian Roberto Azevêdo, has created both opportunity and challenges for Africa. Of the eight candidates to replace Azevêdo, three are African: former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; former Kenyan foreign minister and WTO General Council chairperson Amina Mohamed; and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh, an Egyptian lawyer and erstwhile WTO official.

The other candidates are former British trade secretary Liam Fox; former Moldovan foreign minister Tudor Ulianovschi; South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee; former Saudi economy minister Mohammed al-Tuwaijri; and Mexico's former WTO deputy director-general Jesús Seade Kuri.

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