First published in Daily Maverick 168 Weekly newspaper
Okonjo-Iweala served two terms as Nigerian finance minister and spent 25 years at the World Bank, reaching the number two position as managing director of operations.
Over the past few months, she beat off strong competition to emerge as the candidate with the overwhelming majority of support of member states in a selection committee, to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Another prominent African, Amina Mohamed, the Kenyan cabinet minister and former international diplomat, was also in the race for the WTO job until very near the end.
Meanwhile, Cameroonian Vera Songwe, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) since August 2017, is a frontrunner to head the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Before taking over Uneca, Songwe was the IFC’s regional director for West and Central Africa.
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