Meet the trio vying to become first African WTO boss

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international entity dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.

The goal is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible and following the announcement by the current director-general, Ricardo Azevedo, that he would leave the organization on August 31, the scramble to replace him has begun.

Eight candidates are battling to become the next head of the Organization, at a time when the institution is going through a deep identity crisis.

The contenders would make 15-minute presentations to the 164 member states’ representatives at WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, before facing a 75-minute grilling over their plans for the global trade body.

Starting in September there would be a series of eliminations based on consensus as reported by AL Jazeera, paving the way for the winner to assume the position of the organization’s new director-general.

In this article, therefore, Face2face Africa looks at the three Africans in the scramble to be the next head of the WTO.