When it comes to African female heavy hitters on the global economy, you can’t not mention Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. These days she is on the boards of numerous big companies and organizations including Standard Chattered Bank, Twitter and the Bill Gate’s funded Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. But the job she is gunning for now is Director-General of the World Trade Organization.—Manuela Saragosa.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister has said that No one in the world is safe until everybody is safe—No country is safe until every country is safe.
Okonjo-Iweala made this very valid points during a conversation with the BBC’s Business Daily where she also spoke on what she makes of the Black Lives Matter movement and what the world can do to help African economies weather the corona virus pandemic.
Godfrey Times brings you the full conversation below…
Why do you want the job?
I think the world trade organization is one of the most important multilateral bodies in the world and despite the challenges it faces, and the reforms that need to be done, I believe that it is very relevant for the economic development and growth and the sharing of prosperity in the world. And I want the job because I think I have the skills for it. I think that this organization needs some reforms to make it relevant for the times we are in, make it fit for purpose, and I have a reputation as a strong reformer. I have actually even written a book called ‘Reforming the Unreformable’, where with a team we undertook very important reforms in Nigeria. Am also a person with strong negotiation skills. I have had a career for over thirty years, have constantly been involved in negotiating important agreements between countries.
The whole rule book for global trade has come under stress from tensions between China and the US, it is going to be a really difficult role being director-general of the WTO isn’t it?
Absolutely, its going to be a challenge but that’s what I relish. I relish the challenge of being able to build trust and I do hope that being an objective habiter between the two and as well as other member countries, I can help to find what common interests are.
But president Trump, yes he may be willing to negotiate with other countries but he wants it all on American terms?
Let me say again that I believe the Americans know that they benefitted overtime from the WTO and the world trading system, other countries have also benefitted. And I think what is involved is being a good listener. It is important to listen to what are the concerns of the Americans? what are the concerns of China? what are the concerns of Europe? what are the concerns of Africa? Asia? all the member countries and try to bring them to the table around common interest because I strongly believe that this world we face today, we need a fora where we can bring common interest together. So inspite of all the words you hear, I think there’s room to bring people together, to build trust around shared interest.
What would it mean for an African candidate to get this job?
For Africa, this is extremely important. Africa has never held the job, African countries feel that they also can benefit better from the world trading system, Africa has negotiated a monumental agreement- the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, to strengthen the economies of the continent to enable them to trade better with each other and enable them to face the trading system of the world together. Africa’s trade now is about 3% of World Trade and this needs to increase. So I Think that having an African at the WTO is something that will benefit not just Africa but the intention I have is to make sure that all parts of the world benefit.
The other big challenge of the moment is the corona virus pandemic, its already having a big impact on the global supply chains, how do you address that?
I think the corona virus pandemic has really illustrated and exhibited some of the trends that were already ongoing in the world. The one thing that the corona virus pandemic has shown, is the interconnectedness we have in the world, the fact and the vulnerability of the entire world to these pandemics. But the interconnectedness means that no one in the world is safe until everybody is safe. No country is safe until every country is safe. We are as strong as the weakest link when we are dealing with this pandemic. What does that mean? It means that the WTO and World Trade can contribute even as countries look at the supply chains and wonder what they are going to do about the health equipment and medical supplies and so on, we need to remember that there are countries all over the world that will never be able to have the skill and the strength with respect to developing the supply chains or even for a strategic stock piles. What happens to those countries? We need a world trading system and a WTO that can ensure that these countries also have access. Its in the interest of the whole world to make sure that we are all safe and secure from a pandemic. So that system has to be developed and strengthened.
How worried are you about the impact the corona virus pandemic is having on the economies in Africa
Am quite worried. And the reason is this: African countries felt the economic impact of the pandemic first before they felt even the health impact. The prices of some comodities that we export like oil, fell by 60% between December of last year and March of 2020. At the same time, there was capital flight out of the continent, remittances fell, tourism fell, and for the first time in 25 years, the continent’s economy is supposed to contract by…about 2%, infact the World Bank just put out figures that say 3%. So its a heavy impact and the second thing is that, having to do the close downs and the lockdowns and the social distancing and other measures that our policy makers have so bravely done, has also meant an impact on informal sector workers who have not been able to earn on a daily basis. So it has impacted the lives of households and ordinary people. And I want to say one thing here, it surprised everybody how strong health systems in developed countries have also been vulnerable. Our leaders recognized that we have to work hard on containment measures because our systems are weak. We are use to fighting infectious diseases on this continent. We have dealt with Ebola to a fault, Yelow Fever, Measles, Polio, we have got systems, we have managed to develop systems of contact tracing. We have also in many countries got systems of community health workers who are able to share information with the community. We have a system of communications using churches, our mosques, our local leaders, this has also been very helpful.
What about China’s role in Africa now, there’s been talk of debt relief for many African countries going forward to deal with the economic fall out to the pandemic, China has also signed up for that but what do you think China’s role should be in all of this? because its been such an important source of financing for so many projects in Africa over the last decade or so
We were very appreciative of the G20 move to try to give Africa a debt standstill of which China is a member of the G20. So China has signed on, we believe that the debt standstill till the end of the year 2020 will not be sufficient. As a result, we hope China along with other members of the G20 will be able to extend the standstill for a couple of years to enable us to look at the debt sustainability issues of countries and groups of countries and see how we deal with this best going forward.
You are on the board of several very large businesses and companies such as Standard Chattered, Twitter, you are on a lot of boards, I mean do you sometimes wonder if you are the go-to African economist for these sorts of positions, well we know companies are looking to increase diversity on boards everywhere, but should companies be widening than that, you are the person they seem to go to the most.
Well I wouldn’t say that, I mean that would be thinking too much of myself. There are other very able and capable African women and African men and at the drop of a hat, I could give the list of 10, 20 people who are extremely capable and they are also on other boards. So the idea that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is somehow special, is not true. There are many like me and I think its the myth about Africa that there are very few people who are qualified to serve internationally, that is absolutely not true. I can tell you categorically that we have very talented men and women with broad experience and we also have a very interesting next generation of women who are strongly talented and one of the things that I am doing and looking at is mentoring a lot of these women and young men and hoping that they will take their place internationally as well.
What more do you think could be done by corporates specifically now with the Black Lives Matter movement gaining traction everywhere?
It is so sad that we had to have the death of George Floyd in order for the outpouring we have seen but I am very very heartened by what is happening all around the world, the diversity of people involved, the diversity of opinion, the support that this movement is getting. So I think its also a wake up call for those corporates who have not woken up. I think corporates need to know that the world is changing in every respect. And part of that change is diversity but it is not about diversity for diversity’s sake, its just that people bring very good and interesting perspectives on the table. So why not have those perspectives on the table. I think that’s what corporates need to think about.
But when you go to your board meetings or attend board meetings for some of the companies you are on, are you the sole black female on those boards or do you look around, you think I can see things already changing?
Sometimes I am. I mean it will be not telling the truth to say that in many places where I go there are many black women or many black people around, that’s not yet true. I do believe its changing, I do believe there’s a consciousness that is coming there and you know the other thing? Once you are the black person on the board, you perform well, it just takes away the inhibition that other people may have that oh, or any sort of hidden biases and then they see that, they even forget that you are of colour once you perform and they see that you have a brain on the head on your shoulders and then that leads them to seek out other people without thinking of colour. And then they look at their service, their records, their intelligence and bring them in and I see that happening more and more, not only because people are of colour but also because the people are simply good.
