Pretoria - A breath of fresh air is sweeping through the WTO, with the first woman and African to ascend to the position of Director General at the only global body responsible for resolving trade disputes.
As the primary arbiter on international trade, the WTO has struggled for the past six months without a head due to the concerted efforts of the Trump administration to block the appointment of Okonjo-Iweala. But the incoming Biden administration was quick to throw its strong support behind her as the consensus candidate, paving the way for a more consolidated multilateral approach to trade issues.
Despite the WTO’s effort at trade dispute resolution, tensions between the two superpowers had escalated to dangerous levels, a situation which cannot be allowed to happen again. The WTO under the stewardship of Okonjo-Iweala will need to take a more proactive approach to manage serious trade frictions for the sake of the global economy.
As the former Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Okonjo-Iweala has championed the cause of equitable vaccine access for the developing world, and in April last year was named Special Envoy for the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator. Okonjo-Iweala says that she is a proponent of what she calls “A Third Way” - finding ways in which vaccines can be manufactured in many countries without discouraging research, innovation and intellectual property rights.
Outlining her other urgent plans of action, Okonjo-Iweala has prioritised looking at the sticking points on the issue of fishery subsidies. This issue she believes, presents low hanging fruit as the negotiations have gone on for 20 years and it is time to resolve the matter which is key to the sustainability of fisheries in the future. The DG also intends looking at exempting the World Food Progamme from export restrictions in order to expedite the provision of food to regions that need it.