As the WTO boss, Ngozi can help Africa to be competitive
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the incoming Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
What you need to know:
- We recognise the double standard that can sometimes harm our beloved continent’s ability to compete fairly.
- Please depend on your sisterhood — this growing cohort of powerful, female leaders dispersed across the Global North and South.
Dear Aunty Ngozi, better known as Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. I say a big “Ayekoo” to you for becoming the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Your work as Nigeria’s Finance minister was exemplary, as were your 25 years at the World Bank.
I’m not trying to give you advice; that is not my place. But as a (relatively) young African man rooting for your success, I offer three observations:
The burden of expectations: I cannot speak for other countries and cultures but one thing is clear to me: Africans are difficult to please. We’re rooting for you, but we’re going to expect you to solve everything from trade issues to fixing our potholes. As the saying goes, we can’t win them all and, sometimes, you will have to make empirical, technical, borderline clinical decisions that may not be able to account for all the hopes that are pinned on you.
Let me hit you with one on behalf of my African manufacturers. See, there are some foreign actors who appear to be killing local industry in our countries. We just signed the historic Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Let us use this time to demonstrate that we can truly build and sustain the world’s largest free trade agreement. Let us create policies and checks and balances to help us move up global value chains, so that we can take advantage of your time at the WTO to negotiate better terms for African governments and businesses.
Benefits of globalisation
The inherent hypocrisy of multilateralism: I don’t need to explain — or mansplain? — this one to you, especially since you were at the World Bank for such a long time. See, Aunty, we get confused when certain nations tell our leaders to open up their economies to cheap imports, all in the name of comparative advantage, but then put up regulatory fences to protect their own. We’ve seen this in every conceivable industry — from agriculture to textiles and apparel. We understand the importance of trade and we have all seen the benefits of globalisation — when it works in your favour — but we also recognise the double standard that can sometimes harm our beloved continent’s ability to compete fairly. So, while in Geneva, please level the playing field.
The role of the sisterhood: Our elders tell us leadership is lonely, but I am sure over your long career, you have built your tribe. Please depend on your sisterhood — this growing cohort of powerful, female leaders dispersed across the Global North and South. I trust they will continue to be in your corner.
It goes without saying that the past few years have given us a lot to grapple with: From the proliferation of far-right movements to a full-blown global pandemic. Although it is unfair to place disproportionate expectations on you with regard to the continent, I am sure you are keenly aware of your role in shaping AfCFTA and other initiatives that will bring prosperity to our people, in addition to the world.
Mr Fokuo, Jr, Desmond Tutu fellow, is founder and principal of Botho Emerging Markets Group and co-founder of the Amahoro Coalition. [email protected].
