Ghana’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Agribusiness, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare has called on African leaders to leverage the hosting of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (MC14) as a strategic opportunity to shape the organisation’s future and advance equitable trade reforms that reflect Africa’s development priorities.
She made the call during deliberations at the Ministers of Trade Retreat held from December 11–12, convened on the sidelines of the African Continental Free Trade Area Business Forum.
At the retreat, the minister reflected on Africa’s evolving engagement with the WTO, noting that when the organisation was established in 1994, African countries largely participated as observers within a system shaped by Western priorities and limited African representation.
She observed that Africa has since transitioned into a full participant, ratifying agreements, influencing negotiations, and now preparing to host a major WTO conference.
However, she expressed concern that many earlier agreements were adopted by African countries as rule-takers, entered into in good faith but often without sufficient policy space to protect domestic industries or support long-term development goals.
With WTO member states expected to converge in Yaoundé in March 2026 for MC14, the minister urged African governments to move beyond participation toward leadership, championing reforms that promote fair trading systems, expand industrial policy space, and align global trade rules with Africa’s structural transformation agenda.
She further highlighted the urgent need to unlock intra-African trade, pointing to persistent challenges such as non-tariff barriers, high logistics costs, weak transport connectivity, limited access to shipping vessels, lack of harmonisation in customs and standards procedures, and significant trade finance gaps that continue to constrain small and medium-sized enterprises.
The minister reaffirmed that Africa’s flagship trade framework, the AfCFTA, remains the continent’s most powerful instrument for industrialisation and the development of regional value chains. She stressed that its full potential will only be realised if African countries present a strong, coordinated, and unified voice at MC14, capable of advancing reforms that deliver tangible benefits for African businesses and citizens.
As discussions concluded following the Marrakech engagements, African Trade Ministers collectively underscored their commitment to deepen coordination, align negotiation positions, and ensure that Africa’s priorities, productive capacity, inclusive growth, and sustainable development, are firmly embedded within the multilateral trading system.
Related Posts
