MC14: Okonjo-Iweala calls for urgent WTO reform amid global crisis

2026-03-26 - 18:42

By Emmanuel Okogba The World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) opened on Thursday, 26 March 2026, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with a strong call for members to muster the political will needed to strengthen and reform the organization at a time of deep global uncertainty. Addressing the Opening Session, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala painted a sobering picture of the challenges facing the multilateral trading system. “We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today,” she said. “It is no secret that the world trading system is experiencing the worst disruptions in the past 80 years. The world order and multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed. We will not get it back.” She urged members to look forward constructively: “The organization therefore must look to the future. That means figuring out what worked well in the old order, so we can keep it and build on it. It means figuring out what did not work well, so we can repair it. And it also means identifying the gaps in the renewed order we are shaping, so we can close them.” Cameroon’s Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, who chairs MC14, welcomed more than 2,000 delegates, including over 80 trade ministers. He described the WTO as the cornerstone of stability, predictability, and transparency in international trade, but stressed the need for reform. “Reform must lead to a stronger, more effective WTO able to respond to challenges of today and restore confidence in the multilateral trading system,” he declared. The opening session celebrated the entry into force of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 15 September 2025. Türkiye’s Minister of Trade, Ömer Bolat, announced that his country would no longer object to incorporating the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) into the WTO legal framework as a plurilateral agreement. DG Okonjo-Iweala described MC14 as a “turning point” meeting and warned ministers of the difficult choices ahead. “We have a work-filled and difficult four days ahead of us,” she declared. “It is now really up to you members to decide whether you want the organization to continue or you want to pull it apart.” She ended on a note of optimism: “On my side, I am full of hope. Hope that collaboration and cooperation will be the order of the day. Hope that we shall all see the bigger strategic issues at stake for our organization and the people we are here to serve, and deliver tangible results. Hope that we will have the courage, in Kwame Nkrumah’s famous phrase, to ‘face forward.’” Key topics on the MC14 agenda include advancing WTO reform, the e-commerce work programme and moratorium, agriculture, fisheries subsidies, development issues for least developed countries (LDCs), and the possible incorporation of the IFDA into the WTO rulebook. Four ministerial sessions on WTO reform are scheduled for 26–27 March, covering foundational principles, decision-making, development, and level playing field issues. These sessions will be facilitated by ministers from Norway, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Costa Rica. On 28 March, dedicated ministerial sessions will address dispute settlement reform, fisheries subsidies, investment facilitation, e-commerce, agriculture, and development (including LDC issues), facilitated by ministers from the Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Nigeria, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Cameroon. The conference is expected to consider a draft Yaoundé Ministerial Statement on WTO Reform and Work Plan, along with other possible outcomes. MC14 is the second Ministerial Conference to be held in Africa. The four-day gathering concludes on 29 March.