Okonjoyweala, a Nigerian native, has been elected as the WTO's new secretary-general.



Okonjoyweala, a woman and African descent, is the first WTO head of the world, serving as Finance Minister in Nigeria and a finance and economics expert with the World Bank for over 20 years.



Although I do not have experience in the trade field, which is the WTO's job, I have been working in international organizations for a long time, so political and bargaining power have been regarded as strengths.



Okonjoyweala moved to the United States in the 1970s, studied economics at Harvard University, and received a Ph.D. in Regional Economic Development from MIT.



Since then, he has served as finance minister twice in his home country, and in 2006 he served as foreign minister for a while.



Okonjoyweala is the first woman in Nigeria to serve as two ministers.



At that time, in the process of pursuing reforms in the oil-related industry, the opposing party kidnapped his mother, but he is evaluated as a strong figure who refused to withdraw.



For this reason, it has also earned the nickname'Okonjo-Wahala'.



Wahala means'problem' in the local language.



Okonjoyweala has also worked as a development economist at the World Bank for 25 years, raising awareness on the international stage.



In 2012, he competed fiercely with former President Kim Yong of Korea for his position as president of the World Bank, and he is not familiar with his name even in Korea.



At the time, he had a high grade, but he also managed and supervised the portfolio operation of $81 billion worth of US dollars and 90 trillion dollars, while serving as the managing director, the next highest position after the governor at the World Bank.



In addition, he served as the chairman of the World Bank Development Committee, the International Monetary Fund, and a member of the International Monetary and Finance Committee of the IMF.



He also served as the chairman of the Board of Directors of the World Vaccine Immunity Association, which leads the international project'CoVax Facility', an international project for the joint purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and also chaired the area in charge of climate damage insurance in the African Union.



In a recent interview with Reuters, Okonjoyweala also made full use of her position in the election process, stating that it is discussing with member states how to use WTO intellectual property regulations for special permission to supply COVID-19 drugs to poor countries. I did.



Although Okonjoyweala has risen to the position of head of the WTO, what he has to do over the next four years is not easy.



Problems to be solved, such as the recovery of global trade reduced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reorganization of the Appeals Body, which serves as the Supreme Court in the WTO dispute resolution process, the conflict between the US and China, major member states, and the ban on subsidies to prevent overfishing of seafood There is.



Meanwhile, Okojoyweala is married to neurosurgeon Ikemba Iweala and has four children.



(Photo = Getty Image Korea)