By Boris Esono Nwenfor
The international spotlight turned to Yaoundé as the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), in collaboration with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC14), opened its Trade + Sustainability Hub 2026 with a high-level plenary session.
The high-level dialogue, themed “How Should the Global Trade System Deliver for Development?” brought together leading policymakers, economists, and trade practitioners to examine how global trade rules and institutions can better serve sustainable and inclusive development goals.
The panel included Henri Kouam, Executive Director of the Cameroon Economic Policy Institute (CEPI); Victor Yuh, Africa Manager at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; and Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director of Tralac. The session was moderated by Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Vice-President and Managing Director for Europe. Opening remarks were delivered by H.E. Helene Budliger Artieda, Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
In his intervention, Henri Kouam acknowledged that the multilateral trading system has historically delivered important gains for developing countries. He cited instruments such as Special and Differential Treatment provisions, global stockpiling mechanisms, and the temporary waiver of intellectual property rules during the COVID-19 pandemic as examples of flexibility within the system.
However, he stressed that maintaining this momentum is critical to ensuring that developing countries’ interests remain adequately protected in an evolving global economy.
Africa’s development priorities in global trade focus
A central theme of the discussions was Africa’s position within the global trading system. Speakers highlighted sustainable agriculture as a key sector, contributing significantly to the continent’s GDP, alongside digital industrialisation as a major driver of future economic transformation.
Participants emphasised that African countries must strike a careful balance between domestic development priorities and global trade engagement, ensuring that integration into international markets supports rather than undermines local economic growth.
A recurring message from the session was the need for Africa to take a more proactive and structured role in shaping global trade governance. Henri Kouam argued that while African countries often articulate ambitious development goals, the challenge lies in building the institutional systems and technical capacity required to implement them effectively.
Drawing comparisons with China and India, he noted that these economies succeed not only through policy ambition but through strong coordination between institutions, technical expertise and execution frameworks. In contrast, many African strategies, he said, remain largely at the level of policy intent.
AfCFTA is positioned as a strategic development tool.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was identified as a cornerstone framework for advancing Africa’s trade and development agenda.
Trudi Hartzenberg emphasised that AfCFTA goes beyond trade liberalisation, serving instead as a platform for regional integration, industrialisation and inclusive growth, provided its implementation is effectively aligned with broader global trade dynamics.
The discussion also examined the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and smallholder producers in Africa’s trade ecosystem. While smallholders, particularly in sectors such as palm oil, contribute significantly to production, they continue to face barriers including limited access to finance, weak compliance capacity and restricted market entry.
Initiatives such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil were highlighted as efforts to improve sustainability standards, productivity and access to international markets through certification and capacity-building programmes. Participants also addressed the growing influence of sustainability-related trade regulations, including environmental standards such as the European Union’s anti-deforestation regulation.
While such policies aim to promote responsible production, concerns were raised about compliance requirements, particularly geolocation tracking and supply chain traceability, which remain difficult for many African producers due to limited technical capacity.
Trade must serve development, not replace it.
The speakers agreed that trade should not be treated as an end in itself, but as a means to achieving broader development objectives. They emphasised that for trade to deliver meaningful development outcomes, it must be inclusive, sustainable and supported by strong institutional frameworks.
Africa’s ability to benefit from the evolving global trade landscape, they noted, will depend on effective implementation of AfCFTA, stronger participation in global governance processes, and targeted efforts to close gaps in digital capacity, climate policy and regulatory compliance.
The Cameroon Economic Policy Institute (CEPI), as a session organiser, reaffirmed its commitment to advancing evidence-based policy dialogue, promoting entrepreneurship, and supporting market-oriented solutions aimed at strengthening Africa’s role in global trade.
