Victor Kgomoeswana
Johannesburg - History will be made on November 9 when the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) meets to appoint the successor to its former Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo. US President Donald Trump is willing to spoil the party for the favourite candidate – an African woman.
The tantrums are not mere theatrics of the Tweeting head of state, but an extension of the Trump-China trade policy.
For the first time in its 25-year history, the WTO will appoint a woman as director-general, either Yoo Myung-hee or Dr Ngozi OkonjoIweala. The chair of the General Council, New Zealand’s ambassador David Walker and his two colleagues, recommended OkonjoIweala, the former Nigerian finance minister and an experienced player in the World Bank-WTO circles, over the South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee.
The WTO’s 164 members represent 98% of world trade. World trade is skewed against Africa, so it is in our interest to understand or influence its modus operandi.
Consensus is key to the way the WTO works, except its consensus is prejudicial towards Africa or the poor nations. It describes itself as a “forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements”, a “place for them to settle trade disputes” and where “member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other”.
The member governments have negotiated trade agreements that discourage developing countries from protecting their own entrepreneurs through tariffs, for fear of falling foul of the WTO.
The tiff between the US and South Africa over the dumping of chickens, even when it threatened the local industry, persisted because the WTO does not countenance “protectionism”. Yet, the world consumes knitwear made in the UK because Her Majesty stopped the export of raw wool from her territory until the industry was developed.
South Korea did not become the home of top brands like LG, Samsung, Kia and Hyundai without protectionism. The US taxes chocolate imports more ruthlessly than its raw ingredients, cocoa.
These are but examples of how world trade, under the aegis of the likes of WTO, renders intra-Africa trade and the industrialisation of the continent an elusive mirage. Not that the indecisive leadership in Africa helps the situation, but that is why perhaps an African director-general could make a difference.
Trump is doing what he always does – protect American interests. The Covid-19 pandemic focused the spotlight on protectionism and narrow national interests yet again, in the manufacturing of personal protective equipment and the vaccine. Let us not forget that when Trump considered the World Health Organization to be pro-China or anti-US, he stopped funding, in the midst of one of the worst humanitarian disasters.
Even before that, Trump was waging war on China because Huawei had overtaken Apple (an American cellphone maker) and China is fast overtaking the US as the largest economy.
The anxiety he has over whether a Nigerian or a South Korean director-general will bend to the whims of the US is a contributor to the US’s announcement that it will support Yoo Myung-hee. Trump is the rich kid who brings a ball to the street game; but takes it home when he is not selected to play or if he cannot manipulate the outcome.
* Victor Kgomoeswana is author of Africa is Open for Business, media commentator and public speaker on African business affairs.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.