The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has confirmed that its current Director-General, Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is the sole candidate for the position and is now poised to serve a second four-year term when he current term ends August 31, 2025.
According to a statement from the organization on Saturday, Okonjo-Iweala had earlier confirmed her willingness to serve a second four-year term in a letter to the chair on September 16.
The WTO formally initiated the process of appointing its next Director-General on October 8, setting a nomination deadline of November 8. However, no additional nominations were received by the deadline, solidifying Okonjo-Iweala’s position as the sole candidate.
Chair of the General Council, Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, informed WTO members on November 9 that no further nominations had been submitted.
“Under the procedures for the appointment of Directors-General (WT/L/509), I am required to communicate to Members a consolidated list of candidates received for the post of Director-General immediately after the close of the nomination period, in this case 8 November 2024,” Ambassador Ølberg said in the statement.
“I would like to Inform members that at the end of the nomination period the only candidate received for this post is from Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the incumbent director-general. “The notification received from Dr Okonjo-Iweala pursuant to paragraph 12 of the Procedures in WT/L/509, was circulated to all Members together with my communication in document JOB/GC/406, dated 16 September 2024,” he said.
The organization added that the General Council chair would communicate the next steps in the process soon. It said Okonjo-Iweala’s current term will come to an end on August 31, 2025.
Okonjo-Iweala assumed office as the seventh Director-General of the WTO on March 1, 2021. She is the first woman and the first African to lead the organization.
