The global trading system is experiencing “the worst disruptions in 80 years,” World Trade Organization (WTO) head Ngozi Okonjo‑Iweala warned at the opening of the WTO Ministerial Conference on Thursday.
"The world order and the multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed," she said, adding: "We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today."
All 166 WTO members appear deeply divided as trade ministers gather in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, for the organisation’s top‑level meeting, held amid global economic instability linked to the war in the Middle East.
Over four days in Yaounde, WTO members will attempt to revive an organisation weakened by geopolitical tensions, stalled negotiations and a surge in protectionism – all against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East, which poses a serious threat to international trade.
Okonjo‑Iweala noted that “the scale of the problems confronting the world today, even before the conflict in the Gulf, destabilised trade in energy, fertilisers and food.”
"National governments and international institutions alike have been struggling to navigate rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying climate pressures and rapid technological change.
"Accompanying these shifts has been an increasingly loud questioning of multilateralism."
"National governments and international institutions alike have been struggling to navigate rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying climate pressures and rapid technological change.
"Accompanying these shifts has been an increasingly loud questioning of multilateralism."
Okonjo‑Iweala added that these disruptions are only one symptom of broader shifts shaking the international order established after the Second World War, designed to prevent a repeat of the devastation of the early twentieth century.
"It feels appropriate that at the moment when the world is in turmoil with conflict in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine, and elsewhere, at this time of great disruption and uncertainty, we have gathered in Africa to discuss the road ahead for the global trading system," she said.
“Africa is the continent of the future,” she added.
WTO Ministerial Conferences are usually held every two years. This is the second time the meeting takes place on African soil, following the 2015 conference in Nairobi.
Sources: CNA, AFP