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In February 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Her appointment was a step in the right direction of more inclusivity in the leadership of the consequential global multilateral institutions, which, apart from the World Bank and the IMF, certainly includes the WTO. She is the first African and the first woman to head the WTO. Yet, her appointment was thoroughly meritorious.

Few leaders in global development combine Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s educational background, professional profile, reputability, and global influence. A doctorate economist from MIT, she was Managing Director at the World Bank, twice served as Nigerian finance minister, and also had a stint as the country’s foreign minister. She has served on the boards of international institutions, such as Standard Chartered Bank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, GAVI, and Rockefeller Foundation, to name a few. Amongst many global recognitions, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has twice been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. She has been named 7 times by the Forbes as one of 100 Most Powerful Women in the world in the past 13 years.

Given the widely recognised nexus between trade and development, her leadership was expected to advance the difficult work of the WTO as well as drive development impact worldwide, or at least in the member states of the organisation. Having spent approximately three and half years of her first term of office, which will expire in August 2025, it is a good time to appraise the performance of the WTO DG.

Our assessment is that she probably has exceeded informed expectations. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has demonstrated passion and hard work in her current role. Her zest easily derives from her view that “trade is about people”, even as she has continued to speak eloquently about how access to markets can make real difference in improving livelihoods, especially in poor communities. This people orientation is important for the credibility of the WTO, as it tries to overcome widespread indifference about its work and generate interest, support, and cooperation.

When Okonjo-Iweala visited Nigeria in March, just days after the successful hosting of the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi, she launched the WTO-International Trade Centre’s Capacity Support Programme (CSP) in Abuja, met with donors for support for the centre, addressed a session organised by the country’s export promotion council for women entrepreneurs, participated at the launch of a pharmaceutical value chain business, and held several media engagements in a three-day marathon of stakeholder engagements.

Her leadership ethe include giving due public recognition to the trade ambassadors for the work they do at the Geneva headquarters of the WTO. Having been empowered to do so, they initiate and close deals which are then brought to the ministerials for ratification by the ministers, ensuring the conferences are maximally productive. The congeniality this engenders is helpful for a diverse organisation whose internal stakeholders are working to advance what is oftentimes the conflicting interests of the member countries they represent.

Beyond her personal leadership – and, arguably, because of it – many substantive achievements have been recorded by the organisation in the last one or two years. This is despite the so-called “polycrisis” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, which include supply chain disruptions, elevated inflation, the risk of a global recession, and the threat of deglobalisation, all of which are at variance with the WTO's essence. At MC13, members closed out on years of work on the membership terms for Comoros and Timor-Leste. The ministerial also agreed on special and differential treatment for developing countries, and on easing the transition for economies graduating out of the least developed country status. Progress was also made on initiatives for trade finance access, digital commerce, and dispute settlement reform – despite the freeze on the functioning of the WTO Appellate Body due to the blockade of the appointment of new judges for it.

A more publicised recent success of the WTO is its agreement on fisheries subsidies, which has been ratified by about 80 member countries. With an additional 30 ratifications, the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement will enter into force, marking the beginning of an era of social and environmental sustainability in fisheries globally. This will make the impact of the work of the WTO to be directly felt in local economies where decades of inequity in fishing have eroded livelihoods in poor communities.

Indeed, the WTO has become more responsive to the agenda of sustainable development. It is actively working to harness the leverage of trade to foster inclusive prosperity. The WTO is also actively collaborating with other organisations on climate change mitigation, supporting various initiatives, including carbon pricing.

These accomplishments call for more. For instance, negotiations on agricultural subsidies have yet to achieve a breakthrough. This continues to imperil people. According to the World Food Programme, as many as 309 million people are facing chronic hunger in 71 countries. Yet financial incentives for agriculture go to those who hardly need them, distorting the market framework, stifling innovation, and creating overconsumption in some countries while others face acute food insecurity.

Despite the fact that a few individual countries wield enormous power to stall beneficial reform of the global trading system, acting alone or against the interests of the wider world endangers global harmony and progress. To avoid this, the role of the WTO in fostering a rules-based system for global trade should be respected. Under the competent and respectable leadership of the organisation, the world can continue to move towards fair competition, using trade to raise living standards, create jobs, and improve people's lives as the WTO aims to do.

While Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has not indicated that she would be seeking a second term of office, the continuation of her leadership of the WTO beyond next August should be encouraged. Stability in the leadership of the organisation will help it to seamlessly continue to push for breakthroughs in the many areas that it is currently working to improve the cooperative frameworks for global trade. The Director General can be trusted to continue to use her influence and amiable personality to bring parties together.

At the risk of jumping the gun, we recommend continued use of her fresh pair of eyes for advancing the work of the WTO for the benefit of the world’s economies, peoples, and the environment.

Jide Akintunde is Managing Editor of Financial Nigeria magazine, which focuses on development and finance. Chinedu Moghalu is a lawyer, expert in sustainable development, and a ministerial advisor.