WTO Pauses on Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Yoo, Waits for Certainty on Next US Leader

The United States has paused the world, as everyone waits for the official results of the Presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Without that clarity, the World Trade Organization (WTO) cannot go ahead with its scheduled Nov 9, 2020 meeting to select if Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala or her Korean counterpart will ascend to the position of the Director General of WTO.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has postponed a General Council special meeting on the appointment of the next Director General. The organization announced on Friday that the meeting, previously slated for Nov. 9, has been postponed until further notice due to “health situation and current events.”

“It has come to my attention that for reasons including the health situation and current events, delegations will not be in a position to take a formal decision on Nov. 9,” David Walker, General Council Chair of New Zealand said in a written statement to all members.

“I am therefore postponing this meeting until further notice, during which period I will continue to undertake consultations with delegations,” he added.

You may not like this decision but it is actually the only option: the United States is the trading platform because at the end, the world is just looking for what it could get from it. Yes, while China is always gaining on exports, the US is the only major economy that is “losing”. The implication is this: if the U.S. does not buy into any agreement, all the permutations fail since at the end, only the American cake is what everyone is coming to share.

But while they continue to debate, wait and siddon-look, Oriendu Market in Abia state is open for business, every four days. In my village market, we do not wait for any election! We trade nkwobi, isi ewu, yam and everything that makes life yummy. Visit today, good people.

Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (June 9 – Sept 6, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.