AU denies endorsing Egyptian candidate for WTO top job

The African Union has denied endorsing any candidate for the office of the director-general of the World Trade Organization. 

The organisation headquartered in Addis-Ababa said meetings to pick a consensus candidate for the office of the director-general of the WTO has yielded no result.

A statement addressed to ministries of foreign affairs of member countries, seen by TheCable, explained that the AU has not endorsed any candidate for the job.

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.

“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 AU 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.

“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.