With her emergence as the first African and first female to be the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, unveiled her agenda, which include working with other members of the organisation in reforming and rebranding the global trade body.

Okonjo-Iweala, in her acceptance speech after the WTO’s General Council agreed by consensus to select her as the organisation’s seventh director-general, also highlighted the need for procedural reforms so that the WTO would better serve its members.

Her coronation as the WTO DG, after a nerve-wracking delay caused by former President Donald Trump’s objection to her candidacy threw Nigeria and other countries into a rapture with President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan; House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; President of the European Central Bank, Ms. Christine Lagarde; and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) showering encomiums on her.

She is to assume office on March 1, 2021, and her term, renewable, will expire on 31 August 2025. According to her, the rulebook of the Geneva-based organisation is outdated and its rules lag behind those of some regional and bilateral trade agreements, which are incorporating many innovations.