Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has resumed duty as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), weeks after her appointment which was ratified on February 15. Her appointment was endorsed by the United States and approved by the World trade organization.

The global trade body said in a statement, “WTO members have just agreed to appoint Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the next Director-General,”

Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO. The 66-year-old Nigerian former finance minister takes over the helm of affairs from Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo. The former WTO DG Roberto Azevedo departed suddenly last august thus leaving the seat vacant for seven months, a year ahead of Schedule.

From an initial eight candidates, she was the clear favourite among the last two standing in November. However, her appointment was delayed by former US President Donald Trump blocking her nomination.

 President Joe Biden subsequently endorsed the Nigerian for the position, with the US Trade Representative praising her “wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy”.

She hit the ground running, on her first day on the job in Geneva coinciding with the annual meeting of WTO’s General Council.

Delegates are expected to agree that the organisation’s next ministerial conference will be held in Geneva in December, the event, had been scheduled for last year but was postponed due to the pandemic,.

The question remains whether the new WTO chief, considered a strong-willed trailblazer, will be able to mould the organisation in her image before then.

While some voice hope that Okonjo-Iweala will inject the much-needed energy, others believe she has little room to make a dramatic change, given that WTO decisions are made by member states —  only when they reach a consensus.

One of her first tasks will be to nominate four new Deputy Directors to help recharge the organisation’s negotiating mechanisms.

Okonjo-Iweala has said that one of her main objectives is to push the long-blocked trade talks on fishery subsidies across the finish line in time for the ministerial conference, but with negotiations dragging on, that could be a tough sell.

And in the midst of a global economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, she has plenty of other challenges to attend to.

Okonjo-Iweala has voiced concern about the growing protectionism and nationalism during the coronavirus crisis and insists trade barriers must be lowered to help the world recovery.