Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emerges Director General, World Trade Organization

Nigeria’s former minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has emerged as the new Director General of the World Trade Organization. She is the first female and first African Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.

Okonjo-Iweala beat her rival, South Korean Yoo Myung hee in an election, with a wide margin. She polled 104 votes from 164 member countries to defeat Myung Hee at the final stage of the race.

The official announcement is expected to be made by the WTO at 3pm Nigerian time today.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, served as Nigeria’s first female Finance and later Foreign Affair minister, and has a 25-year career behind her as a development economist and international finance expert at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two.