Nigeria's former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is "by far the best qualified candidate to lead the World Trade Organisation (WTO)" according to the chairman of the African Union commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
"The African Union strongly supports her candidacy and calls on member states and friends of the continent to vote for her," he said in a statement.
Ms Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee are final two candidates - from an initial list of eight.
The Nigerian would be the first African to be director general of the WTO.
She has had two spells as finance minister and a short stint as foreign minister in Nigeria