Women lead race to head WTO amid rising protectionism, deep recession

World Trade Organization (WTO) members are considering five candidates to replace Brazil's Roberto Azevedo, who stepped down as director-general on August 31, a year early. The new WTO chief will need to steer reform and negotiations in the face of rising protectionism, a deep recession caused by Covid-19, and growing trade tensions, notably between the US and China.
 

A final decision is expected later this year, possibly after the US election in November. 
 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), 66, board chair of Gavi, a global vaccine alliance
 

Okonjo-Iweala has served as Nigeria's foreign minister and finance minister and as MD of the World Bank. Branding herself a "do-er", she points to her negotiating skills that she says helped seal a deal to cancel billions of dollars of Nigerian debt
 

Yoo Myung-hee (South Korea), 53, trade minister
 

South Korea's first woman trade minister previously led the renegotiation of a trade deal with the US and worked on Seoul's trade pacts. Yoo vows to make the WTO more "relevant, resilient and responsive" and rebuild trust in the body
 

Amina Mohamed (Kenya), 58, sport and culture minister
 

Mohamed, in 2005, was the first woman to chair the WTO's General Council. She ran for the top post unsuccessfully in 2013. She says she has gained key skills since
 

Also in the Running
 

Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia), minister advising the royal court
 

Al-Tuwaijri, who studied aeronautics and business, was a Saudi Air Force pilot before working for a number of banks. He became minister of economy and state planning from 2017 until he was relieved of his post in March. He has also been on the board of directors at Saudi Aramco, Saudi Railways and Saudi Arabian Airlines and says his private sector experience allows him to take a "fresh look" at the WTO
 

Liam Fox (Britain), 58, member of parliament
 

A former doctor and defence minister, Fox campaigned for Britain to leave the EU and, after the Brexit vote, became secretary of state for international trade, but lost his position a year ago. Fox says WTO chief is a job for a politician “and probably one who has been around for a while and carries the scars of the most difficult battles"