BEVERLY HILLS, July 22, (THEWILL) – The African Union (AU) has declared that it has not endorsed any candidate for the office of the director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
THEWILL recalls that Egypt’s candidate for the office Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh had told members of the WTO that he had been endorsed by the AU — a position the AU has now denied.
However, a statement addressed to ministries of foreign affairs of member countries explained that the AU has not endorsed any candidate for the job.
It revealed that meetings held to pick a consensus candidate for the office of the Director-General of the WTO has yielded no result.
“The Commission, under the guidance of the Ministerial Committee, has made concerted efforts towards the endorsement of one single African Candidate for this post,” the statement read.
“The meeting of the Committee at Ministerial level was planned for three separate dates in order to deliberate on it, namely 2nd July, 10th July and 15th July 2020.
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“However, due to circumstance beyond the control of the Committee, the meeting has not materialized to date.
“As of present, therefore, there is no African Union-endorsed candidate for this post.”
There are three candidates from Africa, including Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former minister of finance who has garnered support from the Nigerian government.
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