Woman to lead WTO for first time

Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed Feb. 15 to head the World Trade Organization (WTO), becoming the first woman and first African to take on the role amid disagreement over how the body decides cases involving billions in sales and thousands of jobs, Report informs, referring to CBS News.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, was named director-general by representatives of the 164 countries that make up the WTO, which deals with trade rules between nations.

She said in a statement that her priority would be quickly addressing the economic and health consequences of the COVID pandemic and ‘to implement the policy responses we need to get the global economy going again.’

"Our organization faces a great many challenges but working together, we can collectively make the WTO stronger, more agile, and better adapted to the realities of today," she said in a statement.