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  Addressing the WTO General Council immediately after taking office on 1 March, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on members to “do things differently” to achieve reforms necessary to keep the WTO relevant, starting with swift action to curb harmful fisheries subsidies, and to help scale up COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution. The new head of the WTO noted that high expectations for her tenure can only be met if members are willing to compromise and reach agreements. DG Okonjo-Iweala: WTO can deliver results if members “accept we can do things differently” DG Okonjo-Iweala suggested that prospects for a successful Twelfth Ministerial Conference would be enhanced if members target a manageable number of deliverables for this year, and set up longer work programmes to address issues that cannot realistically be resolved within that timeframe. Her full remarks are below: Mr Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen, Good morning. I am delighted to be with ...

After series of delay,  disapproval, Nigeria’s Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been named the director-general of World Trade Organisation. The history: Okonjo-Iweala is the first African and first woman to lead the organisation.  The then American president Donald Trump was one of the disapproval that threw its weight behind South Korea Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee.  While Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala got approvals from many member countries and key ambassadors of the trade organisation recommended her for the job. She's finally appointed the DG of the organisation on Monday. The Twist: The victory of President Joe Biden of America changed the whole game after former President Donald Trump disapproval. Last week the Joe Biden administration endorsed former Nigerian finance minister and World Bank chief, paving her way to the top notch job. The former head of the WTO, Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo stepped down last August, a year ahead of schedule.  The process of...

Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala is finally close to leading WTO after South Korean candidate quits.  Yoo Myung-hee says her decision to pull out was made in ‘close consultation’ with US Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a step closer to becoming director-general of the World Trade Organization after South Korea’s candidate quit the race following months of uncertainty over the body’s leadership. Yoo Myung-hee, the South Korean trade minister who had not stood down from the race despite weaker support compared to her rival last year, said on Friday the future of the WTO had become “uncertain” because of the prolonged leadership battle. The move paves the way for Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister in Nigeria who battled corruption in her country, to be the first WTO leader from Africa. But her appointment will still require US approval. Yoo, the only candidate still serving as a trade minister, said her decision was made in “close consultation” with the US. “South Korea will actively co...

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, pledging to unite the country and confront an array of convulsing challenges dividing a fractured nation. Chief Justice Roberts, Vice-President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice-President Pence. My distinguished guests, my fellow Americans. This is America's day. This is democracy's day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve. Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested a new and America has risen to the challenge. Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause, a cause of democracy. The people - the will of the people - has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We've learned again that democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and, at this hour my friends, democracy has prevailed. So now on this hallowed ground where just a few days ago violence sought to shake the Capitol's very foundat...

  Elections Commission boss Justice Simon Byabakama has declared Yoweri Museveni Turuhagurwa Kaguta as the winner of the 2020 Uganda Presidential Elections. At the 10th and final reading of the cumulative results declarations, Justice Byabakama noted the ‘resilience and determination’ of the people of Uganda who turned up to elect their leaders in the Parliamentary and Presidential elections even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be a threat to public health. The opposition leader, who has been arrested multiple times during the campaigning, earlier said to reporters that the presidential election was marred by ‘fraud and violence’ he promised to provide detail evidence after the siege or his house arrest. Bobi Wine said he would detail election irregularities by the ruling party once the internet was restored. The internet remained down for days as vote counting continued. Security personnel out in force as longtime president wins sixth term and main challenger Bobi Wine ...

  The House of Representatives on Wednesday impeached Donald Trump for inciting a violent insurrection against the government of the United States a week after he encouraged a mob of his supporters to storm the US Capitol, a historic condemnation that makes him the only American president to be charged twice with committing high crimes and misdemeanors. Donald Trump becomes the first US president to be impeached for a second time. After an emotional day-long debate in the chamber where lawmakers cowered last week as rioters vandalized the Capitol, nearly a dozen House Republicans joined Democrats to embrace the constitution’s gravest remedy after vowing to hold Trump to account before he leaves office next week. The sole article of impeachment charges the defeated president with “inciting an insurrection” that led to what the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said would be immortalized as a “day of fire” on Capitol Hill. The president, Pelosi said, represented a “clear and present dange...