As Trump wrecks trade, WTO meeting in Cameroon is a show of defiance

In these turbulent times, focusing on the World Trade Organization’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, is a bit like trying to focus on a picnic sitting alongside a bar brawl, or listening to a lesson in pruning bonsai while a lumberjack takes a chainsaw to a giant redwood. But try we must. Even if the deliverables are meagre and may take years to materialise, the symbolism of Yaounde points to a possible future very different from today’s chaotic hegemonic unilateralism – with multilateral cooperation restored to relevance, Africa a significant economic force and China an anchor of soft power. It reflects the steady, quiet shift in global economic power over three decades that is set to accelerate. More than 100 trade ministers have gathered in Central Africa for the biennial conference but the prospect of any meaningful outcome is bleak. Instead of a consensus declaration, there will be a minimalist draft outlining potential work plans. Much of the discussion will be on WTO reform. US ambassador to the WTO Joseph Barloon said: “We have to be honest with ourselves: the discussions are not sufficiently mature to allow for a workplan that concretely and with specificity defines the work going forward.” But Barloon would say that of course. It is the United States that has spent much of the past few years attacking WTO’s foundations and the principles of multilateral cooperation it represents. President Donald Trump’s unilateralism, castration of the WTO’s trade dispute settlement process and abandonment of the core principle of most-favoured nation trading status – which requires economies to extend trade rules even-handedly to all trading partners – are pushing the WTO into irrelevance. In this respect, the Yaounde meeting is an act of defiance. It asserts that most nations still value and prefer multilateral cooperation over the chaotic whims of a hegemon. It also symbolises a changing world economy, a rising Africa and China’s growing influence worldwide. Cameroon is hardly an epicentre of world trade. While it boasts the world’s oldest head of state – President Paul Biya, 93, came to power in 1982 – it sits precariously close to Africa’s “coup belt”, a string of eight nations lying west to east across the continent that have suffered coups since 2020. Transparency International ranks Cameroon as among the most corrupt in the world, at 142nd out of 182 countries. Its US$60 billion economy, ranked 91st worldwide, makes it one of Africa’s smaller ones. For most of my lifetime, it has been an exotic but unremarked corner of a continent on the margins of the global economy. Put all 54 African nations together and they account for just 7.3 per cent of the global economy, compared with 54.6 per cent for the Asia-Pacific. South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, amounts to just US$426 billion – about the size of Hong Kong’s economy. Most of its other large economies – Egypt, Algeria, Morocco – point north to Europe across the Mediterranean. Many still rely on minerals and farm exports built around 19th century colonial links. Because most remain poor, the continent’s consumer base is tiny despite its over 1.5 billion population. But as the Hong Kong Trade Development Council recently noted, Africa is emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic trading regions – in part because its population (by far the world’s most youthful) is set to grow to 2.5 billion by 2050, and in part because of the special role it has played in China’s global growth. Back in 1982, when I was seconded to the China Daily to develop its coverage of trade news, I was astonished at the flow of African leaders being feted at sumptuous banquets in the Great Hall of the People. In 1991, China’s foreign minister made his first overseas trip of the year to Africa and the practice has been unbroken since. In January, Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Ethiopia (headquarters of the African Union), Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho. Vice-President Han Zheng recently began his tour of Kenya, South Africa and Seychelles. And as we speak, Trade Minister Wang Wentao is at the Yaounde ministerial meeting leading a 50-strong Chinese delegation and due to host a high-level meeting on African industrialisation. As with much of the rest of Africa, China is Cameroon’s largest trading partner and creditor as well as its primary infrastructure developer. According to China and the African Union, China has been Africa’s top trading partner for the 15 years to 2024, with trade surging by 6 per cent in that year. China’s embrace has not been without controversy, as many Western economies complain of debt-trap infrastructure-building and a pragmatic tolerance of local corruption. But that embrace is likely to strengthen rather than weaken as Africa’s economies grow in importance. An estimated 10,000 Chinese companies operate across Africa, accounting for 12 per cent of the continent’s industrial output. Chinese state-owned companies are active in 78 African ports. Of China’s 166 international mining projects, 66 are in Africa. With impetus from its Belt and Road Initiative, China has built a third of Africa’s big infrastructure projects and financed one in five. It has installed 20 per cent of the continent’s regional power capacity. So the message from the Yaounde meeting is clear. Whatever the US fury and grandstanding around Iran and the Gulf region, most of the world’s economies remain firmly focused on protecting multilateral cooperation, and the drivers of future global economic growth are likely to come from unexpected directions.

As Trump wrecks trade, WTO meeting in Cameroon is a show of defiance

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Trade ministerial conference shows that most nations still value multilateral cooperation over the chaotic whims of a hegemon

Trade ministerial conference shows that most nations still value multilateral cooperation over the chaotic whims of a hegemon