The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, Abuja, has announced the death of its Director-General and Chief Trade Negotiator, Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, (64) after a brief illness.
A statement signed by Emenike Chibuzor, Head, Strategy and Communications, NOTN, on Monday in Abuja, stated that Osakwe passed away on Sunday, September 22, in Geneva, Switzerland where he was receiving treatment.
Chibuzor stated that the Ambassador, who was appointed as the pioneer Director-General of NOTN on June 6, 2017, was the Trade Adviser to the Nigerian Economic Management Team.
Osakwe was a member of the Nigerian “Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council” and of its “Trade and Market Access Sub-Committee” and its “Advisory Group on Technology and Creativity”.
He described Osakwe as highly regarded for his knowledge and expertise on international trade.
According to Chibuzo, funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.
He said the deceased served as the Chairman of the Negotiating Forum and Senior Trade Officials for the negotiations on the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
Chibuzo said Osakwe led the AfCFTA Negotiating Institutions to finalise Stage one of the AfCFTA Negotiations (on Trade in Goods and Services), for signature by African Heads of State and Government.
NOTN’s image maker said prior to Osake’s appointment as Director-General/Chief Trade Negotiator Nigeria, he was an Associate Professor on International Trade Policy, Diplomacy and Negotiations (on a leave of absence) at the International University in Geneva.
At the World Trade Organisation, where he worked between 1998 and 2017, he was member, WTO Senior Management, served as Director, Divisions of Accessions; Doha Development Agenda Special Duties; Textiles and Technical Cooperation.
He was also Special Coordinator for Least Developed Countries and Head of the Secretariat Inter-Agency Working Group for the Integrated Framework for LDCs, office of the Director-General, UN.
The Chief Trade Negotiator joined Nigerian Foreign Service on July 23, 1979, after his NYSC and served in various capacities till May 4, 1998.
At the Permanent Mission in New York, he was chairman,the UN Sub-Committee on the Legal Aspects of the struggle against Apartheid from 1984 to 1986).
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