5 MAJOR ADVANTAGES DR OKONJO-IWEALA HAS OVER HER OPPONENT TO EMERGE AS HEAD OF WTO IN NOVEMBER
Following the emergence of Dr Okonjo-Iweala to the final of the last two standing to emerge as the leading head of the WTO, we bring you five advantages we thought the Nigerian might have over her Korean opponent. No 3 will show you why sometimes it pays to be a Nigerian. Atleast on this one, all hope isn’t lost on the country.
The emergence of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to the last two vieing for the highest trading body in the world was met with positive fibes from all quarters of the continent. The final two from an initial list of eight candidates are Nigeria's former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee. Now standing with her Korean opponent, we look at the five major advantages the Nigerian might have above her opponent to emerge as the head of the Wirkd Trade Organisation,
HER DUAL NATIONALTY: Dr Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian, but she is also an American nationality, unlike her opponent, who has just one, another addition to her opportunity is, she has had two spells as a finance minister and another appointment as a foreign minister. The ongoing sanctions between the United States and China will be a good place to commence her official duty if elected into office. Presently, the WTO is an organisation under stress because two of the biggest commercial powers on the planet, China and the US are embroiled in a bitter trade conflict.
HER EXPERIENCE: Ms Okonjo-Iweala and Ms Yoo both have political and international experience and both were students at American universities. Much of her career was spent as an economist at the World Bank. She eventually rose to the position of managing director, essentially second in command at the institution. Although, she has not been a successful candidate for the top job at the bank. She must have gathered wealth of experiences working in such gigantic institutions.
HER NIGERIAN NATIONALTY: If the country have never given any of it nationalty to be proud of his of her nationalty, this is one big reason, the most important opportunity Dr Iweala might have over Ms Yoo Myung-hee is her nationalty, the best time to be a Nigerian is when the United States President is in war with your opponent, ithe trade tension between the US and China have created a lot of drama that only the emergence of a neutral head can find a means to profer a negotiating buffer that will be effective to clear the air and work on how existing sanctions between the two countries can be lifted.
READ ALSO: NIGERIA’S OWN OKONJO-IWEALA GEARING UP TO MAKE HISTORY
HER WEALTH OF PORTFOLIO: Its a well saturated facts that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is well read, Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Queen's School, Enugu, St. Anne's School, Molete, Ibadan and the international school, She travelled to the US in 1973 as a teenager to study at Harvard university, graduating magna cum leude with an AB in Economics in 1979- 1981, she earned her P.hd in regional economics and development from the Massachusetts Institue of Technology (MIT) with a thesis titled Credit policy, rural financial markets, and Nigeria's agricultural development.. She received an International Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that supported her doctoral studies. These gave her a wide edge above her opponent, although, her opponent was also educated int the United States at a time, she's not an Harvard graduate.
HER CAREER: One can continually go on and on about her career. Okonjo-Iweala had a 25-year career at the world bank, as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of Managing Director. As Managing Director, she had oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia. Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008 – 2009, food crises, and later during the financial crisis. In 2010, she was Chair of the IDA replenishment, the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low interest credit for the poorest countries in the world. During her time at the World Bank, she was also a member of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Africa, which was set up by the Prime Minister of Denmark Rasmussen. In government, Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and also as Minister of foreign affairs. She was the first female to hold both positions. During her first term as Minister of Finance under President Obasanjo Administration, she spearheaded negotiations with the Paris club that led to the wiping out of US$30 billion of Nigeria’s debt, including the outright cancellation of US$18 billion. In 2003 she led efforts to improve Nigeria’s macroeconomic management including the implementation of an oil-price based fiscal rule where revenues accruing above a reference benchmark oil price were saved in a special account, "The Excess Crude Account" which helped to reduce macroeconomic volatility.
