ExclusiveAmina Mohamed: WTO contender backs a new rule book in US-China trade war

Amina Mohamed, one of the front runners to be next World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general, foresees Geneva body being an ‘honest broker’ in the trade war

The Kenyan, a WTO veteran and experienced politician, is one of eight candidates looking to succeed Robert Azevedo, while Chinese academics back an African leader

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Kenya’s former WTO General Council chair, Amina Mohamed, is one of eight candidates battling to become the next head of global trade’s governing body. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:00pm, 31 Jul 2020Updated: 3:52pm, 19 Aug 2020

An outdated World Trade Organisation (WTO) needs to be revamped to be “fit for purpose” if it is to help mediate disputes such as the US-China trade war, said Amina Mohamed, one of the front runners to lead the Geneva-based body.

The Kenyan candidate said the WTO is “part of the issue that needs to be addressed in order to sort out the tensions” and suggested that the first item on her agenda, should she win the race to become director general, will be to fix the “negotiating function, which has stalled”.

“It’s not just about the [current] director general. I think it’s about the rule book not having been updated for too long and needing urgent upgrading, about making sure that all the members are sitting around the table and negotiating and addressing the gaps that exist,” Mohamed told the South China Morning Post.

Mohamed, who in 2005 became the first woman to chair the WTO’s General Council, and who has also headed the dispute-settlement and trade-policy-review bodies, is one of eight candidates in the race to succeed Robert Azevedo, who is stepping down in August, one year ahead of schedule.

Her vast experience in Geneva combined with her political chops honed through a series of ministerial positions in Nairobi – she is currently cabinet secretary for sports, heritage and culture – have led many trade watchers to single her out as the favourite. Many also have said the time is ripe for both the first African and female leader of global trade’s governing body.

Speaking from her current base in Geneva, Mohamed was keen to emphasise her experience in negotiating and her understanding of the issues that have hamstrung the WTO and left it watching the superpower dispute from the sidelines, saying: “You don't send a doctor to fix a car.”

The WTO club of 164 members, which is designed to set global trading rules, has not produced a major multilateral free trade accord since abandoning its “Doha Round” of negotiations in 2015.