This consultation, entitled “On route to the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference”, was organized jointly by the WTO Secretariat and the l'Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) with the aim of generating ideas about how countries within the French-speaking multilateral system can boost their participation in the WTO and play a greater role in global trade.

His Excellency Minister Mbarga Atangana highlighted the many challenges that the French-speaking world has faced in recent years — from health crises that weakened supply chains to security crises, food insecurity and trade tensions. He recalled that, from the very beginning, the aim of trade multilateralism had been to enhance States' development through trade. As such, he stressed that it was crucial to ensure that Governments had the policy space to shape Africa's development.

In order for the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference to “serve as a launch pad for a better future”, he said that it would be essential to focus negotiations on agriculture, food security, investment facilitation for development, e-commerce, fisheries subsidies, the nexus between trade and environment, WTO reform and development issues more broadly.

At the closing session, participants underscored the key role that global trade played in their economies and the urgent need for French-speaking countries to enhance their participation in global trade to deliver economic growth and employment and improve people's prosperity and well-being. They undertook to use the opportunity brought by a Ministerial Conference being held in Africa to ensure that the economic and trade development of economies in the French‑speaking world took centre stage.

The WTO Secretariat also presented the most recent “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics” report to the representatives of participating Governments and provided them with an update on ratification of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

The list of attendees is available here.

This consultation was part of efforts to strengthen cooperation between the WTO and the OIF following the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding in 2023. The aim is to enhance the participation of French-speaking countries — particularly developing economies — in the multilateral trading system. The main areas of support are trade-related capacity-building, trade advocacy and development activities in Francophone countries, particularly in Africa and least developed countries.