President Bola Tinubu on Thursday received the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The President and Okonjo-Iweala held a closed-door meeting where they discussed trade matters as they relate to national, continental and global relevance.
This is coming two weeks before the expiration of Okonjo-Iweala’s first term as WTO boss on August 31, 2025, and the commencement of her second term, which begins September 1, 2025.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala praised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for stabilising Nigeria’s economy, saying such stability is a prerequisite for sustained improvement.
Speaking after a meeting with the President and his economic team, the Nigerian-born global trade chief noted that the government’s reforms have been “in the right direction” but stressed the need to now focus on growth and inclusive measures.
“We think that the President and his team have worked hard to stabilise the economy, and you cannot improve an economy unless it’s stable. He has to be given the credit for that,” she said.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who twice served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and was the country’s first female Foreign Affairs Minister, said the next phase should involve policies that generate jobs and expand household incomes, alongside a safety net to cushion the impact of reforms.
“So that’s the next step — how do we build a social safety net to help Nigerians cushion the hardship they are feeling, and then how do we grow the economy so we can create more jobs and put more money in people’s pockets. These are issues we discussed with Mr. President,” she explained.
Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank Managing Director, has led the WTO since 2021, making history as the first woman and first African to head the global trade body.
The former Nigerian finance minister made history in 2021 as the first African and first woman to lead the 164-nation-member WTO.
Tinubu had expressed confidence that Okonjo-Iweala’s continued leadership would strengthen the international economic organisation’s role as a critical pillar of inclusive global economic growth and good governance in the next four years.
