The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has warned that the global trading system is undergoing its most severe disruption in eight decades.
Speaking on Thursday at the opening of the WTO ministerial conference, Okonjo-Iweala said the current challenges reflect a fundamental shift in the global order.
“The world order and the multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed,” she said. “We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today.”
Trade ministers from the WTO’s 166 member countries are meeting in Yaoundé amid deep divisions and mounting global economic uncertainty, much of it linked to ongoing conflicts, including the war in the Middle East.
Over the four-day conference, members are expected to explore ways to revitalise the WTO, which has been weakened by geopolitical tensions, stalled negotiations, and a rise in protectionist policies.
Okonjo-Iweala noted that even before the escalation of tensions in the Gulf, global trade had already been destabilised—particularly in key sectors such as energy, fertiliser, and food.
“National governments and international institutions alike have been struggling to navigate rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying climate pressures, and rapid technological change,” she said, adding that these shifts have fuelled growing scepticism toward multilateralism.
She described the current disruptions as part of a broader upheaval affecting the international system established after World War II, which was designed to prevent a repeat of earlier global crises.
“It feels appropriate that, at a time of great disruption and uncertainty—with conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere—we have gathered in Africa to discuss the road ahead for the global trading system,” she said.
“Africa is the continent of the future.”
WTO ministerial conferences are typically held every two years. The current meeting marks only the second time the event is being hosted in Africa, following the 2015 conference in Nairobi.
