Trade Wars, Fighting Corruption and Rethinking Globalization | Leaders with Francine Lacqua

Global trade faces an unprecedented era of stress and fragmentation, challenging the foundational rules of the World Trade Organization. As Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasizes that while the core of the trading system remains robust, urgent reforms are necessary to address modern issues like state-directed subsidies and digital trade disputes. Rather than succumbing to protectionism or retaliatory trade wars, the focus must shift toward "re-globalization"—a strategy to decentralize supply chains and enhance economic resilience. Okonjo-Iweala’s leadership is informed by her tenure as Nigeria’s finance minister, where she confronted systemic corruption at great personal risk, including the kidnapping of her mother. Despite current geopolitical tensions and the slow pace of consensus-based decision-making, she maintains that multilateral cooperation remains essential for solving complex global problems that no single nation can address alone.