This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
On July 16, 2020, the World Trade Organisation's Director-General's seat was up for grabs, with eight candidates vying for the position, including three from Africa.
The candidates, who include Kenya's former Foreign Minister and current Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, ex-Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Egyptian commercial law academic Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh, are seeking to replace Brazilian Roberto de Azevedo, who has served since 2013.
The General Council, the decision-making body composed of envoys from the 164 member states, is expected to reach a decision by consensus before August 31.
Global trade experts have emphasized the need for the new Director-General to have the necessary stature to generate broad consensus and to address systemic issues at the WTO, particularly in the face of threats to multilateralism from the US.
"The time for talking without walking is over," said Mr Pradeep S Mehta, the Secretary-General of trade think-tank CUTS International. "Given the challenges that trade multilateralism in particular and multilateralism in general are facing, the WTO should be led by somebody who can take a pause, evaluate the journey of the organisation over the last quarter of a century and have political maturity for running an organisation that has to deal with 21st Century trade issues," he added.
