World Trade Organization Selects CEIP

A San Francisco Bay Area financial executive, David Colin Burke brings more than two decades of experience to his role as the chief executive officer of Selby Lane LLC, a specialty finance company. Focused on efforts to improve the planet, David Colin Burke serves on the boards of several philanthropic organizations, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP).

In February 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a member of CEIP’s Board of Trustees, was selected to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO). With a history extending to post-World War II reconstruction efforts and the creation of GATT, the WTO has roots in a U.S.-led initiative to create a multilateral, rules-based trading system.

In addition to being the first African to head the WTO, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala will be the first woman in that position. She brings an extensive background in international economic relations and policy reform to the table. Among her accomplishments was facilitating a debt relief agreement for Nigeria in 2005 that decreased the oil-rich country’s debt by $30 billion. At the same time, she spearheaded initiatives that improved transparency relative to Nigeria’s oil revenue management.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has indicated that she will focus on better coordinating international trade, with an emphasis on developing nation priorities. Major issues at hand include addressing export restraints in ways that enable nations to keep their markets open to food and other necessary goods. Another emphasis is on the thorny issue of fisheries subsidies, which have led to overfishing and overcapacity in some marine regions. A third item on the agenda is bringing China and the United States, as the world’s largest economies, back to the negotiating table on critical trade issues. The goal is to defuse tensions that have led to renewed trade wars and protectionism.