Yonov Frederick Agah (born 28 August 1956) is a Nigerian economist, diplomat and international trade negotiator. He served as deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from October 2013 to March 2021. He previously represented Nigeria at the organisation between 2005 and 2013. From April 2021 to March 2025, he was director-general and chief trade negotiator of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations.
Education Agah attended the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained bachelor's and master's degrees in economics. He also received a Master of Business Administration in 1989 and a doctorate in economics, specialising in international trade, from the University of Jos. His doctoral thesis examined trade-policy reform and economic growth in Nigeria from 1986. He later obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Abuja in 2009.
Early career Between 1979 and 1981, Agah lectured at Kaduna Polytechnic. From 1982 to 1984, he was a senior features writer and circulation manager with the Benue Printing and Publishing Corporation. Later, he worked as sales manager at Benue Bottling Company from 1984 to 1987, and as a field manager at UTC Nigeria from 1990 to 1991.
In 1991, Agah entered the Nigerian public service as deputy director responsible for multilateral trade matters. He held the position until 2001 and subsequently served as director of external trade from 2002 to 2005.
World Trade Organization
Nigerian representative In 2005, Agah was appointed Nigeria's ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO. He also headed Nigeria's trade office within the country's permanent mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The office coordinated Nigeria's participation in organisations including the WTO, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Trade Centre.
Agah served as Nigeria's alternate chief negotiator during the Doha Development Round. During his posting, he chaired several WTO bodies: the Council for Trade in Goods in 2006, the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in 2007, the Trade Policy Review Body in 2008, the Council for Trade in Services in 2009 and the Dispute Settlement Body in 2010.
In 2011, he became chair of the WTO General Council and was involved in preparations for the organisation's eighth ministerial conference, held in Geneva that year. In 2013, he chaired a special session of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
Deputy director-general In August 2013, incoming WTO director-general Roberto Azevêdo appointed Agah as one of the organisation's four deputy directors-general. His first four-year term began on 1 October 2013.
Agah was appointed to a second term beginning on 1 October 2017. His responsibilities included development matters, trade facilitation, technical cooperation, economic research and the WTO's programmes for developing and least-developed countries.
Following Azevêdo's departure in August 2020, Agah and the other deputy directors-general continued overseeing the WTO Secretariat while the organisation selected a new director-general. Agah had been considered as a possible African candidate for the position, but Nigeria ultimately nominated Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. His tenure as deputy director-general ended on 31 March 2021.
Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Agah director-general and chief trade negotiator of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations in March 2021. He formally assumed office in April, succeeding Chiedu Osakwe, who had died in September 2019.
The office coordinates Nigeria's participation in bilateral, regional and multilateral trade negotiations. At Agah's inauguration, the government directed the office to work with public- and private-sector stakeholders on implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area and subsequent phases of its negotiations. He remained in the position until 9 March 2025.
Political activity In April 2022, Agah joined the All Progressives Congress at an event in Igbor, Gwer East, Benue State.
Selected works Agah has written and contributed to publications on international trade, developing economies and the multilateral trading system. In 2018, he co-authored a commentary for Devex arguing that international trade policies should provide greater benefits to developing and least-developed countries.
References
External links Yonov Frederick Agah news archive at the World Trade Organization