Former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has thanked the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for endorsing her candidature for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation.

Nigeria had formally nominated Dr Okonjo-Iweala, an economist and also former Managing Director Operations World Bank, for the position for the period 2021-2025.

A statement signed by the chairperson of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government Mahamadou Issoufou also called on other African countries and non-African countries to support her candidature.

“…Since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995, which is a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established on 1 January 1948, no African has assumed the position of Director-General of the Organization,” the statement said in part.

Expressing her appreciation to the ECOWAS, she said in a tweet that : “A big thank you to the Economic Community of West African States @ecowas_cedeao for supporting my candidacy for DG @wto.”