What will Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s World Trade Organization (WTO) Appointment mean for Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)?

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Toyin Umesiri is the Founder & CEO of Nazaru LLC. She serves as Business Coach and Adviser to Retail & International Trade Stakeholders. She leads the Trade with Africa® Network; a fast growing community of Trade experts, Government officials, Policy makers, Investors, Exporters, Service providers, Diaspora leaders and Innovators advancing Trade with Africa®.

-- What does Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s WTO🛒 Appointment mean for Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)?

This was one of the key questions a Journalist from a major African Government's News Agency asked me yesterday during a media interview. As I responded to his questions, I also felt I needed to pen my thoughts for my community about this very important moment in history.

If you have not already heard the big news you are living under the rock - The World Trade Organization (WTO) has appointed its next Director General (DG) who happens to be African and a Female – both of these descriptive words carry so much meaning for Women all over the world and for the African continent; a region home to over 1 billion people.

To say her appointment has raised hopes on the continent would be an understatement. The region has been clamoring for a transition from Foreign Aid to Trade dominance and to them the question is whether her appointment would help shift them further in that direction and what type of transformation (if any) they should expect.

To be clear Africans needs to remind themselves that Mrs. Ngozi is not going to WTO just to serve Africa but to serve the world. The truth is that African nations would make demands on her and the WTO. They will pull on her support to advance trade in the region which in a way is good because Africa has yet to secure maximum benefit from the institution or leverage all the negotiating facilities it presents.

Trade is about wealth distribution and Africa is still largely underdeveloped however the stage is set for the region to extract maximum benefits from not only WTO but other institutions that focuses on advancing trade and economic development. CONTINUE READING HERE - https://www.toyinumesiri.com/what-does-ngozi-okonjo-iwealas-wto-appointment-mean-for-africa-and-the-african-continental-free-trade-agreement-afcfta

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