Ngozi reported to be contemplating quitting WTO job over frustrating slow progress

NIGERIA'S former finance minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is said to be considering leaving her job as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general due to the frustration she is encountering with regards to getting things done.

In February this year, Dr Okonjo-Iweala assumed office as the WTO boss after the new US government accepted her election. During the final round of voting by WTO delegates last year, Dr Okonjo-Iweala emerged victorious, securing 104 votes from the 164 member countries, piping South Korea's trade minister Yoo Myung-hee to the top job.

Just seven months into her four-year tenure, however, Dr Okonjo-Iweala is growing frustrated with the workings of the WTO and has floated the idea of resigning if no headway can be found on critical issues. According to news outlet Bloomberg, five trade officials, reported that Dr Okonjo-Iweala has fully grasped the frustrating reality of the WTO’s historical inertia and has considered quitting.

According to the officials, she has repeatedly told ambassadors and staff that she could easily walk away from the job and reminds them she has not bought any furniture for her temporary home in Geneva. Although Dr Okonjo-Iweala has not denied the claim, she dispelled rumours that she was planning to resign to run for the Nigerian presidency, calling such speculation utterly ridiculous and not true.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala added: “I just got here and I am enjoying what I’m doing. It is a very exciting job and I am trying to have some successes here.”

She began her WTO tenure with a plan to score quick negotiating victories that she hoped would help reboot the dysfunctional Geneva-based trade body.  Observers note that her early departure would add yet another layer of chaos to an organisation suffering from an existential crisis that may lead governments to conclude that the WTO is not a credible forum for addressing their shared challenges.

Deep divisions and a lack of trust are not new for the WTO, which requires consensus agreement among all 164 members to finalize multilateral accords. Over the years the WTO’s rigid negotiating structure and disparate interests of its diverse membership have precluded the organisation from delivering anything substantial for the better part of the past decade.

Last year, Okonjo-Iweala’s predecessor Roberto Azevedo, cited the lack of progress at the WTO as his primary reason for resigning, a year before his tenure was scheduled to end.

A true test of Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership will come later in November, when she hosts the WTO’s 12th ministerial conference that has so far failed to make significant headway on the three priority areas of harmful fishery subsidies, trade-distorting agricultural policies and expanding global trade in vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.