Nigeria's Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been appointed to be the seventh Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This makes her the first woman and individual from African to head the multilateral body. Okonjo-Iweala is the former finance minister of Nigeria and former managing director of the World Bank. The United States, under Donald Trump's administration, had blocked her appointment in October last year, despite a strong endorsement from almost all WTO members.
To look at the significance of this appointment Benjamin Moshatama speaks to:
* Professor Caroline Ncube, SARChI research chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development within the University of Cape Town.
* Kholofelo Kugler, Counsel at the Advisory Centre on World Trade Law
* Dr Olayinka Ajala, lecturer in politics and international relations at Leeds Beckett University.
