NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA - Afrikan Heroes

WTO Commends Ghana’s Digitalisation Agenda

April 28, 2023

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former managing director at the World Bank and former finance minister of Nigeria

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended Ghana’s robust and visionary efforts to digitalise broad aspects of the country’s economy and the entire E-commerce architecture describing it as the future of trade.

Describing digital trade as the “wave of the future”, DG Okonjo-Iweala, said such vibrant activism by countries like Ghana has informed the WTO to begin negotiating an E-commerce agreement that will decide the rules of digital trade.

The WTO Boss discussed this when she paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, 25th April, 2023, on the occasion of her working visit to Ghana as part of her maiden tour of Africa, which will also find her visiting Senegal, Cote d’ Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Interacting with the President, Dr Ikonjo-Iweala said, “total global trade is about 31 trillion dollars. Of that, goods/merchandise trade is 25 trillion and services at 7 trillion. Within those services, digital services trade is growing the fastest, at about half of it, which is 4 trillion. And it’s growing rapidly at 8 percent per annum compared to the goods trade.”

As a result of this encouraging trend, she continued, “we are thinking that this is an area where our countries can benefit, and when we look, Ghana, as we mentioned to the Hon Minister in the morning, seems to be doing well providing some digitally traded services and professional services in business outsourcing.”

“There are many people trading digitally, in Ghana, we met many women today who are online and are doing digital trade, so one of the areas where we are thinking of working with our countries is on this issue of digital trade. We met to look at what are the challenges and constraints and opportunities because on the supply side, we have the International Trade Centre that can work and is working directly with some women here. “

Speaking on WTOs contribution to this, she stated that the organisation can help with issues on certification, quality control of products, breaking into new markets, etc.

Therefore, she continued, “I just wanted to point this out to you that investing in the digital economy is very good because that’s going to be the wave of the future.”

She was quick to add that, WTO is already negotiating an E-commerce agreement that will decide the rules of digital trade and asked Ghana to participate fully towards its formulation.

On related matters of key concern to the Organisation, Dr Ikonjo-Iweala, appealed to Ghana to expedite action towards the ratification of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement which has found consensus after 21 years.

By this agreement, she stressed, “we were able to do away with 22 million dollars in harmful subsidies that lead to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and are actually negotiating a second phase of this agreement to deal with over-fishing and over-capacity.”

She emphasised on the importance of the agreement because 12 million people in Africa depend on fisheries and Africa is losing 2.3 billion dollars from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and 3 billion from over-fishing and over-capacity.”

She said the agreement will eliminate the subsidies that the countries give which in turn result in encouraging the bad practices stated above, seek absolute transparency in the declaration of fish numbers and affords any country the absolute right to report cases of bad practices to the WTO tribunal.

She also touched on the global supply chain on issues like COVID 19, debt financing, agriculture with focus on value addition and food security, reforms at the WTO and trade related issues on the environment as well as climate change.

President Akufo-Addo, whilst touching on the establishment of the National Vaccine Institute, emphasised the strong affinity of the Ghanaian towards digitalisation, and the willingness to work on the various areas that require Ghana’s active participation.

He also called for a more intelligent approach to handling the issue of proliferation of plastics in the face of the difficulty of an outright ban.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Making History: How Okonjo-Iweala Became First Woman and First African to Lead WTO

February 15, 2021

With her confirmation as Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has become the first woman and first African leader of the world body in charge of global trade matters at a time the organization is going through its most trying period in history. Whether Okonjo-Iweala’s ceiling breaking appointment would give the near-paralysed institution the desperately needed kick-start is left to be seen.

Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala’s tortuous journey to the world trade body was controversial and an interesting piece of geopolitical muscle flexing. Two things worked for her, first she got the support of the majority of members of council of the WTO, second, the failure of President Donald Trump to secure a second term in office. The latter, more than the former, was instrumental to her ascendency to the office, as it saved the WTO from an election process that would have further deepened the fractured organsisation which many believed Trump was bent on fighting.

But with the support of the United States President Joe Biden who strongly swung behind her candidacy shortly after the only other remaining contender, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, pulled out. Add to this was WTO’s eagerness to conclude the drawn-out process, having been leaderless since Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo stepped down last August, a year ahead of schedule.

The process of picking one of eight candidates to succeed him had been expected to wrap up by November, but the administration of former US president Donald Trump blocked the consensus to appoint Okonjo-Iweala. Though Okonjo-Iweala was not around at WTO’s Geneva headquarters for today’s virtual session and it is not known when she would take up her duties but she is scheduled to hold an online press conference two hours later after her election.

The WTO picks its leaders through consensus-finding, so even though she is the only candidate still in the race — boasting US, EU and African backing — there is always the chance of a spanner being thrown in the works. She will take over an organisation mired in multiple crises and struggling to help member states navigate the severe global economic slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Okonjo-Iweala argued during the race that she was best placed out of the eight candidates for the post to steer the WTO through the crises. “I am a reform candidate,” she insisted. She has among other things warned that growing protectionism and nationalism have been spurred on by the pandemic and insists barriers need to be lowered to help the world recover.

Even before Covid-19 battered the global economy, the WTO was weighed down by stalled trade talks and struggled to curb trade tensions between the United States and China.

The WTO also faced relentless attacks from Washington under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump. Among other things, Trump brought the WTO’s dispute settlement appeal system to a grinding halt in late 2019.

Okonjo-Iweala has said her priorities include getting long-blocked trade talks on fishery subsidies across the finish line and breathing life back into WTO’s Appellate Body. She has brushed off claims she lacks experience as a trade minister or negotiator, insisting that what is needed to lead the WTO is not technical skills but “boldness, courage”. She has portrayed herself as a champion against Nigeria’s rampant corruption — saying her own mother was even kidnapped over her attempts to tackle the scourge. But her critics argue she should have done more to tackle it while in power.

A development economist by training with degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Okonjo-Iweala has also had a 25-year career as a development economist at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two. She is on the Twitter board of directors and chaired Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Globalizing the COVID Vaccine

January 6, 2021

By Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The development and approval of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines less than a year after the start of the pandemic is a truly remarkable achievement, offering hope that the end of this devastating crisis may be in sight. What will follow in the coming months – or even weeks – will be equally remarkable: COVID-19 vaccines will be made available to people around the world – not just in the wealthiest countries – at roughly the same time.

Vaccines will reach the majority of rich-country citizens in the first quarter of this year, and citizens of low- and lower-middle-income countries will also begin to access them. The speed and scale at which vaccines are being provided is both extraordinary and necessary to end the pandemic, and is possible only thanks to an unprecedented show of global solidarity and multilateral support for COVAX, the central mechanism in the global COVID-19 vaccination effort, launched last year by the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (which I led).

COVAX will facilitate the rollout of two billion vaccine doses over the next year, reaching people in 190 participating countries and economies, regardless of their ability to pay. In fact, there should be enough doses to protect all health- and social-care workers worldwide by mid-2021. And despite meeting with its share of naysayers, the program has continued to attract more governments, economic policymakers, and vaccine manufacturers. These participants are signing on because they recognize that COVAX is the only viable global solution to the COVID-19 crisis.

Now that we have reached this critical juncture, speculation about whether COVAX will fail must stop. It is time to start providing the support needed to ensure that it succeeds in doing what it was designed to do. The development and approval of vaccines is merely the first step. As long as the coronavirus can be transmitted between people, many will continue to be infected, and some will die. The hope of returning to normal trade, commerce, and travel will remain elusive.

To end the cycle, we cannot vaccinate only some people in some countries; we must protect all people everywhere. Yet as vaccines have been rolled out, demand has predictably outpaced the still-limited supply. Under these conditions, even if doses are promised for the rest of the world further down the line, allocating vaccines to the highest bidder will merely prolong the crisis. Vaccine nationalism is precisely the problem that COVAX was created to solve.

In tackling COVID-19, we must avoid a repeat of 2009, when a small number of rich countries bought up most of global supply of H1N1 flu vaccine, leaving the rest of the world with none. Because every national government has a first-order duty to protect its own citizens, it is no surprise that some 35 countries have already concluded bilateral deals with pharmaceutical manufacturers for COVID-19 vaccines.

These arrangements are not ideal when it comes to the global vaccination effort. Although COVAX is flexible enough to work around this particular problem, it can do so only as long as manufacturers provide it with the same access to vaccines as national governments receive. Unfortunately, we are already seeing some government’s buy far more doses than they need, adding to the pressure on global supply during this critical initial phase.

Some of these countries have indicated that they will donate their surplus orders, in which case these additional doses will need to be redirected as quickly and as equitably as possible. The best way to ensure that they are is for donor governments to go through the Gavi/COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) mechanism, which was created to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are made available to people living in the world’s 92 low- and middle-income countries.

So far, COVAX has secured around one billion doses for people in these countries, by striking deals with manufacturers of several of the most-promising vaccine candidates. But many more doses are needed. All manufacturers must step up and make their vaccines available and affordable to COVAX, so that there can be a timely global rollout. Some manufacturers have already done this; and international donors have contributed the $2 billion that the COVAX AMC needed for 2020. But the program needed an additional $5 billion for 2021, and in December, the United States allocated $4 billion for Gavi in its second COVID-19 relief package.

Back in February, few imagined that by year’s end we would have more than one approved vaccine and be in a position to deliver doses to high- and lower-income countries simultaneously. But the global community rallied and created a platform for doing precisely that. All COVAX needs now is enough international support to finish the job.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former managing director at the World Bank and former finance minister of Nigeria, is former Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and former African Union Special Envoy on COVID-19. She is a Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Global Public Leader at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Ebola Lessons for Fighting COVID-19

June 8, 2020

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister of Nigeria, a Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Distinguished Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution

By NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

The Democratic Republic of Congo will soon pass a milestone marking its success in the fight against Ebola. As Africa braces for COVID-19, one lesson from the DRC is that the best hope for defeating the coronavirus is not social distancing, but a vaccine that is distributed equitably.This is a significant milestone. It refers to twice the maximum incubation period – 21 days – of the virus, which is how the World Health Organization stipulates when an outbreak is over. If all goes well, it will be a remarkable turnaround for the DRC and a testament to the bravery and dedication of health workers, some of whom lost their lives treating the sick.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister of Nigeria, a Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Distinguished Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution

The DRC’s success in combating Ebola was overshadowed by the fact that, during that fight, approximately twice as many people died from a preventable measles outbreak. One essential lesson for policymakers grappling with the greatest global health crisis in a century is that they must do everything in their power to prevent overstretched health systems from battling two epidemics simultaneously.

Bloodshed and fighting during a brutal civil war exacerbated the challenge facing the DRC as it fought the Ebola and measles outbreaks. The country experienced profound difficulties immunizing its population against entirely preventable diseases. It found itself fighting a multi-front health battle when it desperately needed to marshal its available resources against a major threat.

The trajectory of COVID-19 may be less advanced in many of the world’s poorest countries, but we must not fool ourselves that a warmer climate, or a younger demographic profile, will blunt its impact. The potential for death and disruption is even more pronounced than in the richer countries where the virus has hit hardest.

And yet weathering two significant health threats simultaneously has shown us how to prevent this nightmare scenario. Our first priority is to maintain existing immunization programs. For measles, polio, or any other disease for which a low-cost vaccine is routinely available, it is critical that herd immunity is maintained in order to prevent any unnecessary drain on scarce health-care resources.

Next, we must bolster preparedness. A number of organizations, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (of which I am Chair), have made funds available – $200-$300 million in Gavi’s case – to help the world’s poorest health systems step up surveillance activities, invest in testing, procure protective equipment, and train health workers. Technology is playing a part, too: Despite valid privacy concerns, some countries are rolling out tracing apps – a relatively low cost, effective way to mitigate the virus’ spread. Africa is also using drones to distribute vaccines, protective equipment, and other vital supplies to remote areas.

Social distancing will slow the spread of COVID-19, but it will not win the war. Our best hope lies in finding a vaccine. While there may be 41 candidates of varying promise in the pipeline, we must learn from past mistakes. Too often, governments have sequestered vaccines in the countries where they were manufactured. We must ensure that when an effective vaccine becomes available, it is accessible to anyone who needs it, not just the rich, and fortunate few.

There are ways to avoid the inequitable distribution of vaccines. Gavi, which procures and distributes vaccines to 60% of the world’s children at affordable prices, regularly employs innovative mechanisms such as the International Finance Facility for Immunization, Advanced Market Commitment, and Advanced Purchase Commitment to encourage vaccine production and delivery. In the case of Ebola, Gavi created incentives for Merck to stockpile an experimental Ebola vaccine that was then made available to the WHO, which deployed it in the DRC. It can incentivize the production, scale, and equitable global distribution of a vaccine for COVID-19 as well.

Poorer countries in Africa and elsewhere may be unable to deal with both the health and economic fallout of this pandemic on their own. The global effort that is already underway is essential, because COVID-19 knows no borders. No country is safe until every country is safe.

We are not yet near the end of the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. We must use what precious time we have to bolster our weakest health systems and economies. But shoring up our defenses is not enough. We must go on the offensive by making the development and global distribution of a vaccine our highest priority.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance minister of Nigeria, is Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Distinguished Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry