New WTO Official

Yi Xiaozhun, China’s Permanent Representative to the WTO, was appointed as its deputy director general recently, the first Chinese to assume the role. Yi has worked on international trade issues since the 1980s. He was China’s vice minister of commerce before taking office in Geneva as the country’s permanent representative to the organization in 2011. Yi will begin his term on October 1.  

Bankable Jazzy

Nigerian prolific music producer Don Jazzy is listed first in Nigeria and second in Africa as the most bankable African artist in a recent survey released by Channel O and Forbes Africa in September. The list is based on artist sales, endorsement value, popularity, show rates, awards, YouTube views, investment, influence, appearance in newspapers and social media presence. Senegalese American Akon tops the coveted list.