In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, guest interviewer Acha Leke talks with Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala. Acha Leke is a McKinsey senior partner in Johannesburg and is chairman of McKinsey’s Africa region. Okonjo-Iweala became director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March 2021—the first woman and the first African to serve in this role.


Okonjo-Iweala talks about her first few months leading the WTO and some of the initiatives underway, and discusses the challenge of inclusive and sustainable growth in the years ahead. She answers questions including:

— How has the COVID-19 crisis affected world trade?

— As trade rebounds, what will it take to ensure that trade patterns are much more inclusive?

— How do emerging economies ensure that they have the access they need to vaccines and build the capacity to manufacture them? What role can trade and the WTO have?

— What is the interplay between growth, inclusivity, and sustainability?

— What else do we need to do to ensure that women and SMEs have access to trade?

— What do you see as some of the opportunities emerging from the pandemic crisis?


This conversation was recorded in December 2021. To read a transcript of this episode, visit: mck.co/NgoziOkonjoIweala 


Follow @McKinsey_MGI on Twitter and the McKinsey Global Institute on LinkedIn for more.

In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, guest interviewer Acha Leke talks with Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala. Acha Leke is a McKinsey senior partner in Johannesburg and is chairman of McKinsey’s Africa region. Okonjo-Iweala became director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March 2021—the first woman and the first African to serve in this role.
Okonjo-Iweala talks about her first few months leading the WTO and some of the initiatives underway, and discusses the challenge of inclusive and sustainable growth in the years ahead. She answers questions including:
 — How has the COVID-19 crisis affected world trade?
 — As trade rebounds, what will it take to ensure that trade patterns are much more inclusive?
 — How do emerging economies ensure that they have the access they need to vaccines and build the capacity to manufacture them? What role can trade and the WTO have?
 — What is the interplay between growth, inclusivity, and sustainability?
 — What else do we need to do to ensure that women and SMEs have access to trade?
 — What do you see as some of the opportunities emerging from the pandemic crisis?
This conversation was recorded in December 2021. To read a transcript of this episode, visit: mck.co/NgoziOkonjoIweala 
Follow @McKinsey_MGI on Twitter and the McKinsey Global Institute on LinkedIn for more.

Forward Thinking examines groundbreaking ways in which the world is evolving and how people and organizations can respond to changing demands and technologies. In each episode theorists, innovators, and business leaders discuss global trends—technology, artificial intelligence, globalization, urbanization, climate change, and more—with hosts Michael Chui and Janet Bush of the McKinsey Global Institute.

Thought leaders in business, economics, and technology discuss major global trends shaping our lives—from AI to urbanization—with the McKinsey Global Institute.

Forward Thinking

The WTO’s first African—and first female—director-general reflects on the impact of the pandemic on trade, the imperative to ensure that vaccines reach Africa and other emerging economies, and how to ensure that trade is more inclusive.