African Named to Head U.N. Office on Trade, Development

Kenneth Dadzie, Ghana’s high commissioner in London, was named Wednesday to be secretary general of the troubled U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD.

Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar proposed the nomination in a note to the U.N. General Assembly, whose confirmation of the appointment is considered certain.

Dadzie--whose current assignment is the Commonwealth equivalent of ambassador to Britain--will become the first head of the U.N. agency from an African nation. The previous secretary general, Gamani Corea of Sri Lanka, had difficulties with the United States and stepped down at the end of last year.

Formed in 1964 with the purpose of trying to reduce the economic imbalance between the developing countries and industrial world, UNCTAD has not been notably successful. Virtually all of its meetings have been marked by sharp discord between the two sides.